The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou
by Liberty SleepStorm
Summary: Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly act like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as if he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.
1. Prologue

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Prologue**

If I would think back and retrace the events as clearly as my memory would allow, I would say it all started the week prior.

In fact, many things happened that week I would rather forget: the Filipina exchange student named Ali who made me a bento to express her…infatuation, was priority. I theorized my female classmates suggested she did that to help her experience the Japanese culture… or simply to terrorize me.

Either way, with Ayuzawa's help, Ali apologized, to which I had no choice but to say, 'no, it's all right.' The president gave me her big grin of approval and patted my shoulder, whispering, 'you're getting better with girls, Kanou! Good job!'

I did not see her point exactly, and that did not matter at all, because the most important part of the story happened afterwards.

The bells had rung; the students were cleaning the classrooms, and the teachers were reminding everybody to come early Monday next week to finish the preparations for the festival. Yukimura and I brought the files from the Student Council Room to the faculty and went back to relay a message from the principal.

It was like every other day, and like every other day, Takumi Usui was in the Student Council Room, sitting on the president's desk with a smirk, while Ayuzawa squinted her eyes on the files she was reviewing in an effort to concentrate, flushed pink and scowling.

"Oh, hey, Takumi!" Yukimura scooped his school bag from one of the pigeonholes. "What booth do you belong to? I saw the girls from the Kissing Booth talking to you earlier."

"Yeah, I turned them down." He yawned.

I hung my earphones around my neck to undo the violet ribbons Misago and her gang of optimist girl friends laced around my bag. This prank had been in practice for fifteen days, because they theorized that by acquainting me with feminine thrills, they could heal my phobia. "Really?" I chimed in, taking a step back to scrutinize their work. Put a card on top of the ribbon and it would have passed for a present fit for an eight year old "I heard you were their number one option. Most girls agreed to go to the Kissing Booth if you were to sit an hour."

"An hour?" Ayuzawa lifted her head from her papers. "What are we talking about again?"

"The Kissing Booth," I said.

She blinked at me as she interconnected all the said facts. Upon obviously failing, Takumi waved Yukimura over, who obliged without a hint, and he hooked his arm around the shorter man's neck. "You know, prez…a _kissing_ booth?"

Yukimura bolted away upon – finally – grasping Takumi's implication, and hunkered behind me.

Ayuzawa marched to the vice-president's desk and scanned the yellow folder on top of the left-hand pile. "A Kissing Booth? Whoever agreed to this? Is this even legal? What kind of image are we projecting by putting up a-a…a K-Kissing Booth?"

Yukimura cleared his throat, puffed his chest out, and gestured to us three men in the room in order to redeem himself. "That Seika High is made up of handsome, chivalrous men the girls are dying to be with!"

No one commented, and I guessed we shared the same thought. Yukimura wasn't exactly the kind of man normal girls wanted to be with. If his younger sister, Ruri, was not convinced of his abilities to be a prince – excluding the 'charming' – then it was difficult to expect the average girl to fall for him.

The corner of Ayuzawa's lips twitched, and she forced a chuckle. The muscles around her mouth had the tendency to stiffen whenever she obliged them to do something against their will, like lying to Yukimura to console him. I bet nobody else noticed how terrible a liar she was. Her very pitch gave her away.

"But still," she said as she shut the folder. "It's not wholesome no matter how you think about it. Men should not be asking girls to pay them to get a kiss, and what kind of girl agrees to that?"

Takumi crossed his legs and cupped his face, smirking in her direction. "Every girl who's not as lucky as you, prez."

"W-what does that mean, huh?"

He shrugged. "You just have to say it and I'll turn down every request they make to list my name in the participants. I'll understand if you get jealous."

That was the first sign that something had changed between their relationship.

Normally, Ayuzawa would make a big fuss about it, shouting something along the lines of 'why should I be jealous? And who would want to kiss a perverted-alien-who-came-to-earth-to-harass-innocent-women?' The possible action following her stream of insults could be to punch him or to walk out.

Today, I saw none of those.

Ayuzawa hit Takumi's head with the yellow folder and turned to Yukimura. "Tell the committee head of that booth to come to me tomorrow and we'll talk this proposal over, okay? Even if this makes money, the reputation of our school _always_ comes first."

She mumbled some more reminders to Yukimura, which he took note of in his mini tablet. I barely listened as I watched Takumi rub his head while watching her. I was convinced he wasn't aware of the affection he was emanating; the gentleness of his gaze on her was the most genuine I had seen on him.

Indeed, something had changed.

Yukimura and I walked down the stairs and into the locker rooms to change our shoes; him, still babbling about a stage actress Ruri was dying to meet, whilst I was still trying to figure out why he was so dedicated to a sister who barely liked him.

I was slipping my black shoes on when a shadow loomed over me, and I turned my head to see a well-dressed man smiling at my general direction.

The bridge of his rectangular glasses slipped lower on his steep nose. "Good afternoon, sir," he clicked on the chain links of his cuffs as he put his hands together over his stomach. "May I bother you with a question?"

Yukimura tiptoed to whisper to me. "Kanou, do you know him?"

The man's stature compelled me to straighten my back. "Ah…sure. What is it?"

"Do you happen to know a Mr. Takumi Usui?"

Footsteps halted behind Yukimura and I. The man looked behind us, and his smile widened.

Before I could see to whom it was due, Takumi walked past me and wrapped an arm around the older, bigger man. He tapped Takumi's back, laughing. "You've grown tall, good chap! How are you? Oh, is this her?"

Ayuzawa tucked her right foot inside her shoe properly and jogged forward, gave a weary smile and bowed. "Good afternoon, sir."

"Let's talk outside." Takumi told her and waved at Yukimura and I. "Walk home safe, you two."

"Yeah, bye, Yukimura." She bumped my shoulder. "Bye, Kanou."

I watched them walk out, Ayuzawa tailing them from a short distance.

"Hey, Kanou," Yukimura tugged at my sleeve, "Do you know who that was? Seemed like Takumi knew him well."

I had no idea. All I was sure of was that short encounter had a very significant relation to what happened the coming week, when, just like strangers, Takumi and Ayuzawa stopped talking to each other.


	2. Chapter One

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter One**

This was my first observation of the mysterious change, and Ali was of no help. She had been asking me for assistance with everything as of late, and the girls glared at me with a rather evil air whenever I disagreed. In the end, we spent almost the whole day together.

We were delivering two boxes of cut confetti to the student council's Information Booth, and while we were crossing the field, a loud cry broke out. Nearly everybody stopped to search for its source.

Ali gasped and pointed to our left. "They're fighting!"

The girls in the field huddled together, while the boys grinned and formed a circle around the two delinquents punching each other's teeth off.

Ali, as I learned was the wholesome, caring, and frightened girl, dropped the box and pulled me to the scene of the fight. "Kanou, you're big enough to stop them! C'mon, help! The girls are scared, can't you see?"

It appeared, also, that she could not see I was quivering and sweating because of her nearness. Certainly, someone had failed to tell her I had phobia to women.

"It's normal! Now, stop pulling me!"

"Someone has to stop them!"

"Ali!" I wrapped my arm tighter on the box of confetti to make sure it would not fall in my struggle to steal back my other arm, which, I knew, if I resisted longer, would eventually rip-off because of this small girl with superman's strength.

I was about to say something when my eyes settled on Takumi, cutting art paper beneath a tree. He appeared to be without care, but suddenly, his head jerked to the direction of the fight.

A female's voice roared, shutting up the whole field. Ali stopped dead also, even dropping my arm.

"What in the world is wrong with all of you?" Ayuzawa broke into the crowd, and the men ran away to save themselves from her wrath. She rolled her sleeves up. "The two of you, idiots, stop this at once or-!"

A heavy swing from one of the two mad men landed on Ayuzawa's shoulder. A tide of gasps escaped the students on the field, and the fight eventually stopped.

I dropped my box then, and my left foot scraped forward, estimating if I should come over to help her.

Ayuzawa gripped her shoulder and flicked her eyes up to the man who punched her. She hit her forehead against his. "Who the hell do you think you're punching? Both of you, scram!"

That was all it took for her to break off a fight. Soon enough, the studentry fell back into the atmosphere of work as though nothing happened.

"Wow!" Ali clapped her hands. "The president is great! Did you see that, Kanou?"

I picked up my box and gestured for her to do the same. Ayuzawa stomped her feet as she went back to investigating the booths, but it was evident her shoulder hurt. She scowled, grunted, and swallowed.

"That's always the scene around here, better get used to it." I told her.

"I'm amazed she's that capable, but shouldn't that be a man's job?"

On the other side of the field, beneath the tree, Takumi was on his feet, staring wide-eyed at Ayuzawa's back. The scissors fell from his hand, and it jolted him to awareness. He sat back on the ground. He resumed cutting the art paper.

"I agree," I said. Deep inside, I thought differently.

Takumi normally came to her rescue.

What stopped him?

That was my first observation.

There were many things that took my mind off the matter for a while. Ali made me bento that day, which I ate with her, Yukimura, and Sakura in classroom A. Both of them chatted the lunchtime away about a stage-actress they always mentioned but I always managed to forget the name of. Ali admitted hearing of her, but made little input on the subject. She continuously shifted on her seat.

"Miss Takiyumi Mariya!" Sakura spelled it out for me while we packed the bento. "She's twenty years old, and she's from a rich family! Do you know how many plays she starred on at that young age?"

"I know, I know!" Yukimura chirped. "Eleven! Eight of which she scored the lead role!"

"She's amazing!"

"Truly," Ali transferred her bag to her left and dipped her hand inside.

I caught the rectangular light reflected on its inner lining. "You're not allowed to use your phone during school hours," I said.

She zipped her bag and pouted at me. "But my mom is missing me!"

"Ayuzawa will bite you."

"She only bites boys." Sakura flipped the pages of her history book to a plastic envelope containing cutouts from magazines. "Misa chides girls. You know she's never harsh on her own kind. Oh, hey! I'm collecting pictures of her for inspiration! Take a look."

She poured two dozens on the table and spread them for scrutiny.

The firs photo I saw of her was a candid shot of her receiving a flower from a man in grey suit. This Mariya had black hair and sported full bangs, which contrasted her complexion finely. With all her wigs and costumes in the other photos, I couldn't help but ask if this was still the same woman, and they kept telling me I should change my eyeglasses. Ali fingered through them gleefully, pointing out one she portrayed as Helena from Shakespear's Midsummer Nights. I thought she looked familiar, but after lunch, I almost completely erased the image of her from my memory.

It was funny how, since my mother left, it became too easy for me to forget about things that did not matter to me. Experiences that hurt, they were automatically buried at the back of my mind and at some point in the near future, they ceased to have happened for me at all.

The afternoon I was cleaning up the mess the other boys made in the music room, simply because Ayuzawa would go berserk again if she saw this, my thoughts drifted on how she and Takumi had helped me overcome my fear of women.

Perhaps that was the reason I cared so much about the little things I noticed, because at some point, they cared enough to correct me. The president did no big gestures to show it, but I was convinced she loved the male population of Seika despite their bad attitudes. She chased us all back to sanity even if it meant wearing herself out. Being part of that population, it dawned on me that it was the first time a woman ever cared for me.

Since mom left, I thought it was impossible for someone of the opposite gender to show affection towards me.

Of course, Ali was another matter.

I put my hood on and walked out of the classroom once I was done, confident that with the teacher assisting in the costume making there, no one would be making another big mess.

Then came my second observation.

A familiar voice echoed on the stairwell. Curious, I bent over the balustrade and saw Takumi, sitting on the last steps, a phone pressed against his right ear. I could only hear some of what he said above the cacophony of chit-chat and footsteps behind me.

"You said you'd come today," He grumbled. "You know what? If this goes south, I'll blame you. I'll haunt you during every lesson you ever take, and I'll make sure it's the reflection of my sad ghost you see every time you look at the mirror, do you hear?"

There was silence, and he smiled a little. "All right, Iya, safe strip. Be here or else,"

He flipped his phone shut and looked up. I jerked away from the railing, willing myself to walk away, but all I could do was watch him walk up to me with his hands in his pockets.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop," I said. "I mean, I heard a voice, and I checked to see whose it was. You really shouldn't be using your phone during school hours. Ayuzawa would be mad."

"Better not tell her then." He swept back his bangs and waved at me. "See ya later, Kanou."

"Takumi,"

He cocked his head back enough to see me. "What is it?"

I averted my gaze elsewhere and shifted my weight. "There was a fight earlier, and Ayuzawa accidentally got hit. Why didn't you help her?"

Takumi's eyebrows raised high on his forehead, and he shoulders stiffened.

It was the first time I ever saw that look on his face, the first time he appeared to have been caught off-guard. To have been the cause of such unnatural expression on him made me uncomfortable.

"I never thought you saw me as a superhero," he said, his tone amused - a far cry from the shock that initially possessed him.

I was not one to pursue subjects like this, especially when I knew the other person did not want to talk about it. Takumi was good at swaying the conversation to his advantage. That was enough for me to know something must have happened between them, perhaps something too personal he could not even give a hint about it.

"Never-mind." I was halfway down the stairs when Takumi said something that only confused me even more.

I was never sure if I heard him correctly – if I heard the emotion correctly as it was delivered, or if I just made it up in my head. The unsteadiness of his voice must have been because there were too many people speaking in the background or, less likely, it could be he, the great Takumi Usui had actually choked up

"If you're so worried, maybe you should take care of her," he said.

I dared to glance at him, but he was gone.

The conclusion of my second observation to this mystery was simple and straightforward. Takumi and Ayuzawa had a quarrel – something serious and personal. He must have harbored a certain kind of grudge to have endured seeing her get hurt and do nothing about it.

I have had no romantic experience, but I would know what kind of pains could make a man tolerate his woman getting wounded in front of his face.

Father was so gravely injured by my mother's betrayal of his trust that, when he saw her cut by a knife on our last dinner together, he did not even bother ask if she was all right. He did not even look at her when she cried out.

Since my father did not react, I did not react also. His lack of sympathy reflected his own bleeding wound deep inside. However, I could not begin to speculate what offense Ayuzawa made that caused Takumi to be that apathetic towards her.

They were not married. They were not my parents. I could only understand so little of what could have happened.

_If you're so worried, maybe you should take care of her. _

That one statement burned my supposed conclusion and gave birth to gnawing curiosity. It sounded as though he was entrusting Ayuzawa to me, and it pained him to do so. Why me? Why ask somebody else to take care of the girl he always found a way to protect?

I wouldn't even begin to think they suddenly fell short of affection for each other.

But, who was the person Takumi was talking to?

Who was Iya?


	3. Chapter Two

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter Two**

Tuesday – I found out the real name of the Filipina exchange student who had been blinded by something ridiculous about me was Aliya Castilio, and her mother was Japanese. Half her life she moved around where her father was assigned to work as consulate, but because her mother was tired of that lifestyle, she decided to settle back in Japan.

"When we transferred here last year, I spoke little Japanese." She told me with a bashful grin. "Mama taught me eagerly, and I had friends who were kind and patient enough to tolerate me."

I nodded like I always did. She never minded my silence; she never did.

"I studied in the Philippines first, and then in Singapore, and later in Korea. The longest I studied was in Korea, and I was actually student council vice-president!"

"Oh? Like Yukimura?"

She bobbed her head as though I just offered her a million yen. "When we moved here, I decided I'd change. I'd be more timid, and I'd focus on myself more. I understand how Ayuzawa is. Sometimes to be tough is the only way to be."

I looked at her then. "You understand Ayuzawa? How?"

"Yelling at boys so they would follow, keeping up your academic standards to earn your right to boss people around, and leading them to the right direction, it's a tiring thing, really, I hope she realizes soon that it would wear her out if she doesn't learn how to balance it." Ali picked up a fried squid with her chopsticks and dropped it in my lunchbox. "That tastes good, you should try it."

Staring at the burnt side of the squid, I said, "You mean it exhausted you? I don't get it, to be honest, Ali. If I were Ayuzawa, I wouldn't want to be president if it required all that hard work and criticism."

"Well, some people are born with the passion for leading…like _her_."

A thought struck me. "Uhm, then, what if she gets distracted? Like, by a guy or something?"

"You mean fall in love?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Oh." She giggled. "That's intriguing, is the president in love?"

It took me a long time to answer that. If she asked that question before everything I witnessed yesterday, maybe I could have said 'yes' so easily, but now…I was just as curious as she was.

Observation number three nearly killed me.

Or sprained me, but either way it hurt.

Yukimura had his tendency to claim fully capable of performing manly tasks, but later on call on me to finish the job for him. If I were to list it down, it would be in a scroll the length of the average Japanese seven-year old boy.

For example, climbing the ladder to pin up the banner for the Horror Booth.

"Hold it, will you?" I shouted below me.

Yukimura tipped his head back, looking up at me with a pout. "This ladder is unsteady, Kanou, and you're heavy, don't you know? Can somebody help me, please?"

Misago volunteered to hold the other end of the ladder, and I swore she did a better job than Yukimura.

As I was sticking the pin to the black cloth with my left hand, the stapler tucked between my elbow and my chest, I loosened my right hand's grip on the steps of the ladder to be able to reach up. The ladder wobbled, my heart leapt, and the stapler fell below me.

"Hold it still!" I yelled.

"Excuse me!"

The ladder scraped the floor and folded, and I jumped to the side so as not to fall down with it. A loud clank echoed in the hallway. I rolled to my side, wincing and holding up my elbow.

"Kanou! Are you all right?" Misago crouched beside me, peering at my wound. "It's not that serious, but maybe you should go to the clinic. Yukimura, you can support his weight, you should help him get there."

I sat up, and though I ached, I was confident I hadn't broken a bone. "What happened?"

Yukimura snapped his head up to the end of the hall. "I'm…not sure, but I thought I saw the president. She was running towards us fast, and she must've hit the ladder. Must be an emergency."

I lost care of my injury and stood with the help of the girl.

"Hey, not so briskly there, Kanou. You might've broken something!"

"No, I'm fine. Thank you. I'll go get this cleaned in the infirmary now. Stay here, Yukimura."

I ran down the hall, cradling my elbow, and turned the corner. This hallway bristled with students, and no matter how carefully I maneuvered my way through, I always ended up bumping against someone and apologizing.

Ayuzawa was nowhere in sight. Of course, she was a fast runner, but there were too many props and students lying about for her to have run out this hall that easily. I peered inside the classrooms one by one, keeping an eye out for that raven-haired, amber-eyed girl who had roused my interest.

Classroom A, classroom B, classroom C…all without the student council president.

In the midst of Seika High's chaos, I paused to catch my breath.

I shouldn't be meddling with other people's business. Whether Ayuzawa and Takumi were mad at each other should not mean anything to me…yet it did. A tug inside my chest made me creep my foot forward, wanting to roam and search again.

Maybe because… just maybe…we were 'friends' now that I cared? Did they even consider me a friend, to begin with?

Just then, the door of the women's comfort room ahead opened, and Shizuko stepped out with Ayuzawa's arm around her shoulders. The short girl in pigtails whom I recognized was Sakura, trailed behind them with a record notebook in her hands.

Ayuzawa Misaki had gone pale, sucked out of color and exhausted, yet she smiled at Sakura as they were heading the opposite direction and mumbled something that must have been comforting words. That was the way I knew her to be, lying about her real condition for the sake of the people who cared for her. I figured if I asked her outright if she and Takumi were in good terms, she would just lie about that also.

To her, it seemed nobody had the right to worry.

Ali was right; someday soon Ayuzawa would grow tired of all this.

Sakura wiped her eyes with her cuffs. I walked towards her and tapped her shoulder. She jumped around and squeaked. "K-Kanou?"

"Yeah, sorry for startling you."

She smiled, but it was sad. "I have a good memory for names. What can I do for you? Misaki is currently sick, so if you need something from the student council, I guess I'm her substitute for this little while."

"The president is sick? How come?"

Sakura tipped her head sideways. "I can't really say, you know. She may be working herself too hard, but lately she's been running out and vomiting in the bathroom a lot. Let's see," she flipped three fingers up. "Three times, at most. We've been giving her water to hydrate her, but she's really sick. Oh no, what would we do without Misaki?"

"She simply started vomiting and feeling bad?"

Sakura gasped and covered her mouth. "It must be my fault! She reacted badly to the smell of the sashimi I brought to school. Misa said she couldn't take the smell of it. Could it be that she's allergic to sashimi? Does allergy even make people vomit just by the smell of it?"

I was beyond curious. I was, as much as I wanted to deny it, worried.

Ayuzawa's face was embedded in my mind as a subject of inspection. It was so easy to see, based on the physical, how someone felt, and truly, she must have worked her way to her limit this time. However, a part of me believed there was something more to these weird happenings that was waiting to be put together.

Sakura excused herself and said she'd tell Ayuzawa of my concerns. She gave me no time to object.

Many times, I thought of visiting her in the infirmary to finally inquire and get answer. I had the courage only to come to the infirmary door, but once there, something else began playing in my mind.

Even if Takumi had a quarrel with her, how could he stomach her suffering up to this measure?

I turned around and walked to the field, scanning the sea of students.

Where was Takumi, anyway?

"I haven't seen him either," said Shizuko. She finished writing the reminders on the blackboard and dusted her hands. "He hasn't been hanging out with Misaki lately, either. Maybe he's absent?"

Then she gave me observation number four: a photo.

She flipped her phone open. "Have you seen the picture going around?"

Yukimura perked from his corner, instantly lowering his glue gun to the floor. "I know about those photos! Someone sent it to my phone earlier. Didn't you receive it, Kanou?"

I shook my head, flicking my eyes from Shizuko to Yukimura. "I'm afraid I'm not intent on gossip. What is it?"

Shizuko chuckled nervously. "I'm surprised you have it, Yukimura. I thought only girls were supposed to receive it. You see, Kanou, a lot of girls are infatuated by Takumi, and one of those girls is Maya. She claimed she saw Takumi go on a date last night with this girl,"

The image on the screen of her phone was a little blurred, but the first thought that hit me was this: if Ayuzawa and Takumi were currently against each other, why had they gone out last night? Their backs were turned, and Takumi was looking down at her, saying something, when this photo was shot.

Without having to look twice, I was sure the girl with mid-length, black hair clinging to Takumi's arm was Ayuzawa. That was, until Yukimura mentioned the brand of the jacket she was sporting was rather expensive. Shizuno asked how he knew, and he answered that Ruri always nagged their mother to buy her clothes from that brand, but it was too expensive.

"The president is poor, right?" I said.

Yukimura stuttered. "H-how can you say such a thing? The president is-!"

"Yes, she is." Shizuko said and tucked her phone in her pocket."Why? You think this was her?"

"No way! The president called me last night and asked about the budget for the student council's food. She was up all night, and we kept calling each other back and forth," he exclaimed. "That couldn't be her."

"Whoa, defensive there, Yukimura, aren't you?" Shizuko poked his arm. "Are you in love with Misaki?"

Even without Yukimura's flushed face and stammering, all of us were sure without asking that he had no feelings of the sort for the president. Imagine Ayuzawa and him as a couple. It was pitiful. She was manlier than he would ever be in nine lifetimes.

Later, I considered the possibility that Takumi gave her that jacket as a present.

No, no. They were supposed to be in bad terms. Did they make-up last night and he decided to take her out as compensation? It wasn't as if their relationship was public knowledge yet. There could be a chance she kept calling Yukimura to have an alibi, make it appear as though she was working when the truth was, she was enjoying a date with Takumi.

The door slammed open, and all heads turned to see who the creature was with such brute strength.

I blinked twice, thrice, and the sight of Ayuzawa did not change.

Rage flared in her eyes. "Has anybody noticed that almost everyone has been using their phones during school hours? Seriously?" She marched to the board, studying the writings on it. "We're not done collecting those bottles yet? But we've been overdue-" She flipped over the stapled pieces of paper in her hands, and her eyes shot wide, "Two days! Where is Fujiwara? Isn't he the one assigned to see this job through?"

"Take it easy, Misa." Shizuko grabbed a chair and forced her to sit on it. "You know you've not recovered yet."

"Yes, but-" She sighed, scratching her head. "There's so much work to do! Yukimura – oh, hi Kanou."

I jumped slightly on my place, startled, "Yeah?"

"Nothing, it's just that I didn't see you there when I entered. So,"

"Ayuzawa," I approached her. I flexed my hands to relax my nerves. "Have you seen the picture? That may be why the girls are bringing out their cellular phones."

She stared at Shizuko. "What pictures? Can I see? I didn't hear about this. If this, in any way, is perverted, I'll have more reason to request all phones to be confiscated if used in school premises."

"It's nothing like that, just mere gossip. About Takumi." Shizuko showed her the picture.

Right there and then, I had the chance to conclude whether my latter theory was correct. If Ayuzawa's reaction gauged between shocked to embarrassed, then indeed she was only calling Yukimura last night for alibi. Although, if she appeared saddened or enraged, it would mean she was in a quarrel with Takumi and the girl in the picture was not her.

The second theory would mean Takumi was cheating on her, and so they broke off whatever they called their strange relationship.

Unfortunately, Ayuzawa only tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brows.

I was a full-fledged man; I had not the slightest idea what that reaction was supposed to mean.

"Maya is too upset about this, and so is half of our female population," Shizuko said. "They say this is Takumi's girlfriend. If you saw some of them crying in their own little corners on your way here, this is why."

I had thought it was game over, that this mystery was beyond my capable hands, what with Ayuzawa neither shocked nor angry by the picture.

Until she laughed and changed the subject entirely, I was almost certain I met a dead end. Fujiwara entered through the backdoor and received reprimand, but by then her energy had died down.

Her effort to be mad was pathetic. Yukimura, being as sensual as a girl, mentioned it was as if, without warning, a grey cloud had befallen our president.

To me, that grey cloud had a name.

Takumi Usui.

Again, why?


	4. Chapter Three

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter Three**

Before the second day of the mystery ended, I decided I was going to repay Ayuzawa with the kindness she showed me despite my efforts to sabotage the student council the first time we met.

It wore me out thinking of a lie to persuade Yukimura that I had another engagement to attend to, hence I couldn't accompany him and Ali to the bookstore to shop for materials. He said there were a lot of heavy things to be carried, and Ali was not to be burdened by that because she was a girl.

Two things won me that debate:

First, Ali had the strength of a man my size.

Second, this was the best time for Yukimura to prove he was not a damsel in distress.

"Let him go, Yukimura," Ali said, wiping her black shoes clean before wearing them. "Kanou would help if he could. Oh, and before I forget, let's stop by an ice-cream parlor on our way home."

Guilt swarmed me. "I know one," I told Yukimura so he would stop kicking his feet into his shoes. "It's called Sugiyama's Ice House, further east from my subdivision, just across a barber shop."

"Eh," he said.

Ali removed her ponytail and plucked at the strands, letting her hair cascade over her face. She sniffed.

"You okay?"

She sniffed again. "I like that – Sugiyama's Ice House. Let's go there, Yukimura."

"Yeah," I said, nodding to no one but myself. That ice-cream parlor brought back memories of my childhood. I would go there soon…alone.

The past days taught me how simple a girl Ayuzawa was. She did not bother stopping by mirrored surfaces to check her reflection or put on whatever girls swiped across their lips to make them glimmer. Her bag had no colorful key-chains or girlish designs that even Shizuko sported.

Her bag was brown – plain brown and worn.

Ayuzawa had lost weight also. She was naturally slender, I guessed, but was it normal for her to be that thin during these busy moments of the school year? Even I was alarmed at her complexion and stature. Sometimes, while I followed her, I feared the wind would blow her to the busy streets and she would get run over.

Traffic was abnormal today; that or I only bothered to notice today. One wrong step and she would contribute to Tokyo's statistics of car accident victims.

Ayuzawa swayed a couple of times, earned glares from those she bumped, and reached for the nearest post. She embraced it, her posture slumping.

Due to empathy I did not expect to have for her, I was willing to lay aside the questions reeling in my mind to assist her going home. However, Ayuzawa was a smart girl; she would know I was lying if I told her the usual fib that my house was in the same direction. So I watched from afar, sometimes nearby to catch her if she fell amidst the crowded sidewalks.

_If you're so worried, maybe you should take care of her. _

I edged back behind the stall displaying a Crimson Tongue's newest pastries. Her figure grew smaller along the sidewalk the longer I stood here, dumbfounded. Her green blazer merged and disappeared among the countless bodies clad in black and blue that was waiting to cross the pedestrian lane.

I was doing exactly what Takumi said I should - taking care of Ayuzawa.

My convictions fazed. She did not look complete without Takumi, or was I simply too used to seeing him by her side, filling the half of a duo that could, as Yukimura said, conquer the world?

Could this even be called protecting, if I was only stalking her from behind, ready to come out only when she was about to hit the ground?

I was awoken from my thoughts by a jolt of awareness that sprouted from a pain on my head. I reached up to touch it, but felt something rough and elongated instead. Slowly craning my head to the side, I saw a young boy pressing down a long broom against my head.

"What do you want from Misaki, pervert?"

I couldn't blame the boy. If you saw a tall man with a hoodie trailing an innocent girl from her school to her house, immediately a 'pervert' would come to mind. It was kinder than 'psychotic' or 'maniac', but even so, I wasn't the type of person to be offended by such lies.

The question still hung in my head: was I protecting Ayuzawa?

I swung my arm, removing the broom from my head. "And who are you?"

He bared his teeth, exasperated. "I'm-I'm Misaki's friend! I won't let some perverted, lifeless, man take advantage of her! State your name!"

Misaki's friend. Interesting. "I'm a schoolmate of Ayuzawa's. No, I'm not here to take advantage of her. I'm here because I'm worried for her health and…well, something a boy like you won't understand."

"What do you mean by 'a boy like you won't understand', huh? What do you take me for?"

"Wait, are you also following Ayuzawa?"

The boy's face turned red, and he lowered his broom. "Not 'following' you moron, 'watching over' is more like it. Why are you here again? You say you're her schoolmate? Do you have a crush on Misaki?"

Good question. "A crush on the president? Highly unlikely."

"Then why are you stalking her?"

"I all ready stated my reasons; I was worried for her health." I said.

"And?" The boy folded his arms against his chest, his left hand still clutching the handle of the broom. "You said something that I wouldn't understand. Try me! If you don't say it, I'll report you to the police!"

Looking over the situation, the boy was no threat, and even if he told Ayuzawa I was following her, I could easily lie that I came to buy something in one of the stores and he was making that story up. She knew me to be the last person to stalk somebody, so I could be confident she would fall for it.

However, this boy looked interested in something.

"Tell me your name first." I said.

"Aoi. That's all the name I'm giving you. Now speak up."

"Fine." I held my hands up in surrender. "I'm checking to see if Ayuzawa is truly all right."

The word 'truly' made his eyes glimmer. That was how our alliance started.

Ayuzawa was all ready out of sight, so, in agreement that we were both suspicious about her behavior, we went into a café and talked it over.

The Cat's Hat was one of the cheapest café's in Tokyo. Either having money enough for Starbucks, we settled for this one and found a table in the third aisle, tacitly ignoring the punks situated on our right and the club of senile women to our left.

"How do you know the president again?" I said to remind me of the significance of our business here.

"Good evening! What will you two lovely boys have?" A waiter wearing a hat with a lousy scribble of Alice in Wonderland's cat grinned at us, tapping her pen on her tablet in impatience.

His job must suck.

"Banana cake and water."

"Coffee. Little sugar."

The waiter sniggered as he jotted this down. He went away.

Aoi scooted his chair further right, away from the punks who were whispering and pointing at him. "Well." Dropping his voice an octave, he said, "Let's see, I'm a relative of the person she works for. That's right, and I always pop round and see her there whenever she's on duty. She annoys me, really, but lately she hasn't been attending work."

"What's 'work' for Ayuzawa?" I said. "I know she's poor, so it makes sense that she has a part-time job, although I never really took the time to consider what kind of job it would be. It must be something that required lifting and bossing around, right? Ayuzawa is an expert on those things."

"Something of the sort. That's not important, though. I'm also worried about her. She's been off, lately, and ever since the day before, when she started feeling sick and running to the bathroom to vomit, Satsuki hasn't allowed her to work at the café."

"Who's Satsuki? So Ayuzawa works at a café, huh? I thought it would be manlier than that."

He slapped his hand against his forehead. "Okay, big man, forget I ever mentioned any name or place, all right? Misaki is totally gonna rip my head off is she knew I mentioned it to someone at her school!"

I shrugged. "Okay, it's a secret."

"What about you? What got you worried?"

I hesitated if I should tell him, after all, it wasn't my life I was talking about, but with the way he sounded so certain of Ayuzawa, a part of me was convinced this boy could help me in one way or another.

I told him about all my observations, and was surprised to hear that he knew Takumi Usui as well. When asked how, he looked away and answered, "I guess I could say he does part-time where Misa works too. Come to think of it, Takumi hasn't been showing up lately. He didn't go to work on Saturday and Monday, and neither of them were present today either. What's going on?"

The waiter reappeared with our orders and announced their names before sliding them across the table towards us. "Have fun and remember to always-" he pointed at the cat on his hat, "Smile!"

Aoi regarded his cake with a frown. "You were saying, Kanou?"

"Ayuzawa was sick since Saturday? She's been vomiting since then?"

The waiter rolled his eyes and left.

"Heck, yeah!" he said. "She gets disgusted by the smell of raw food so easily, it's weird." Aoi ate a spoonful of his ice-cream, "She's been feigning her enthusiasm as of late, as well. I know there's something wrong, but I just can't put my finger on it."

"Do you think she and Takumi has a romantic relationship?"

"Everyone with eyes can see it. They're so obvious, it's annoying."

"If this helps, I noticed that before they started ignoring each other, they were less shy than they used to be. Ayuzawa wasn't getting mad when Takumi flirted with her openly, and I had thought perhaps she had finally acknowledged her feelings for him." The chimes by the door jingled, and I shuddered upon seeing a blonde enter. Irrationality birthed to the idea that Takumi was listening to us and was deeply upset by our speculations. I drank my coffee, swallowing my nerves down with the bitter liquid. "Then suddenly they act like this. I shouldn't be prying, but I can't just watch Ayuzawa go on like this when I know something's not right. I was hoping…I could repay her through..."

Aoi dropped his teaspoon.

My coffee spilled as I put it down. "What's wrong? Why the face?"

"Oh my gosh!" He dug his fingers onto his scalp, horror descending his visage. "We've been so blind! The signs were there right in front of our faces it could have been spitting the answer to us!"

"Wha-? I don't understand."

"We're so stupid!" He bawled, earning the attention of the entire café. "Takumi's been avoiding Misaki, and it seems neither are in contact with each other. You say he has a girlfriend according to your schoolmate, Maya. Misaki has been disgusted by natural odors in the kitchen and vomiting her guts out. It's so stupid of us! Of course that's what happened."

I shushed him, partly because he was too loud, and partly because the punks were eavesdropping. "Would you care to enlighten me?"

He hit his hands on the table and leaned forward, hissing, "Misaki has finally confessed to Takumi that she loved him too, but by then Takumi all ready had another girl! So they argued about it and decided to just let it go and move on. But later on, Misaki found out about it, and decided not tell Takumi because she was afraid that things would only get worse! Of course she'd just carry everything on her shoulders, it's so like her!"

"What did she find out?"

Blood drained from Aoi's face as he looked at me. "Kanou, Misaki's pregnant!"


	5. Chapter Four

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter Four**

Earlier this morning, a baby sleeping in her mother's arms looked at me, screamed, and cried.

I sprinted to school.

Truth be told, I was not an athletic person, nor did I enjoy sports, and the adrenaline that flowed through me made me nauseous as soon as I came to a halt by the school gates.

Students poured inside the premises without an idea of what was truly happening. Everybody would just be treating this like any other day without noticing the difference. Life went on. The boys would be creating trouble. The girls would be complaining. The teachers would be organizing the festival.

My breath caught in my throat.

Something terrible had happened, and only _I _knew.

I hastened past the many colorful booths lined by the entrance of the school with every intention to find Ayuzawa.

Last night, Aoi and I had agreed on a plan. It did not involve any sudden confrontation for a number of reasons, including my cowardice and lack of experience with these kinds of situations. Aoi had grumbled that, if only he was older and studying in Seika High, he could have done something more useful.

I apologized for 'not being useful'.

I just wanted to help.

Upon entering the classroom, I spotted Ali and Yukimura leaning over an open window.

"What are you looking at?" I said, tossing my bag on a chair."The windows in the hallways are crowded too. Did something happen?"

"Happen?" Ali cried. "It doesn't even begin to justify this!" She gestured outside.

Yukimura's mouth hung open. "You've got to see them, Kanou! I've never seen anything so magical!"

Observation Number Five:

Ali squeezed next to Yukimura to give me space along the windowsill, and to my horror, there was Takumi with a girl who was not Ayuzawa. They strolled along the field with Takumi motioning here and there.

"It appears he's showing his girlfriend around Seika," said Yukimura.

"G-g-girl…?" I pointed at the couple. "You mean she was the girl in the picture?"

Ali shrugged and cupped her face. "Must be. I don't know much about Takumi, or that Toya Nanami, but they're a pleasant sight, don't you agree, Kanou?"

Just like that, my blood boiled. I spun around and stomped my feet out into the hall. Ali and Yukimura followed behind me, but I said they should leave me alone because I had to do something important.

I knew this was not in Aoi's Plan A, but it felt right to do it now.

I slammed open the door of the student council room. My eyes locked on Ayuzawa.

She sat behind her desk, signing something. She looked up at me. "Kanou? What are you doing here? Do you need something?"

Blood rose to my cheeks. I refused to look at her stomach, to see if there was a bulge. I was not a woman; I didn't know the slightest thing about pregnancy. Whether it showed or not mattered little. Aoi and I were sure of it; what Takumi was doing was completely inhumane.

"Kanou?"

"Have you seen the new student?" I said.

She blinked at me. "Ah…yes? Do you mean Toya Nanami?"

My vision swirled, and I held on to the door. "How come…you're…? Are you all right, Ayuzawa?"

There was something about the way she looked down at the papers in front of her and back at me that showed how upset she really was, yet she hid it behind a laugh. "All right? I'm doing great! Why should you ask? Ah, I remember Sakura telling me that you were looking for me yesterday but I was in the infirmary. She said you were worried for me. Thank you, Kanou. That was very thoughtful. I'm fine now, it was just indigestion."

"Are-are you sure? I mean, if there's anything I can help you with…just," I sighed and bowed my head. "Don't be afraid to ask. You shouldn't be exerting too much effort since you're-"

"I'm?"

I bit my tongue. "You're…I think you're…"

Ayuzawa arched her eyebrow. "Hey, Kanou, is there something you want to tell me?"

"Tired." I nodded several times. "Yeah, you're too tired to work."

A smirk crept on her face, and she looked at me from head to toe. "Thanks for the offer, Kanou. You can start by delivering those files over there to every classroom in the High School department."

I guessed this was good also, even though she slaved me for an entire day with this task and that. It meant I had a reason to stand watch and protect her from over-exerting effort.

Aoi's plan worked, even at my expense.

Ayuzawa had me carry every heavy thing that had to be carried, and I volunteered to fetch whatever had to be fetched. At first, she was enjoying it, but by noon, she was beginning to get suspicious. Even Yukimura and Shizuko pitched me those really curious looks.

Several times, I had to remind myself that I'd rather look stupid than see a baby die.

Ali, also, seemed upset by my willingness to do everything for Ayuzawa. I didn't want her to get jealous for no reason. It was not as if I had any romantic interest in the president, but this was something she wouldn't understand yet. Maybe when I had every puzzle-piece put together, I could make it up to her and tell her what truly happened.

"Okay, Kanou," Ayuzawa stopped walking and put her hands on her hips. "What's up? Why are you acting weird today?"

The hallway was nearly deserted, except for a boy and a girl arguing about a lost paintbrush inside the next classroom. Ayuzawa's scowl deepened the longer my silence lasted.

I used the tower of books I was crying to hide half of my face. "Acting weird? Aren't I always helping the student council?"

"Yes, you are, but usually you're with Yukimura," she said. "Why is it all of a sudden, you're tailing me and doing everything for me?"

I wish I could call Aoi and ask what to do. He seemed very familiar with how Ayuzawa was, I was sure that if he were in my position, he would get out of this mess quick and smooth.

Whereas I…I had no idea what game plan to use.

Should I confess that I knew?

Ayuzawa tiptoed to get a better look at my face, squinting her eyes. "Ka-hey you!" She whipped her head to the incoming figure. "No running in the hallways!"

A gush of wind and a blur of green and white rushed past me. There was a scrape against the floor, Ayuzawa's roar of warnings, and then a loud thump.

Ayuzawa ran to the fallen girl.

I put the books down and approached them, but immediately stopped. I turned from the girl who was laughing as she rubbed her knee, and Ayuzawa, who looked just as startled as I was, although I figured they were for two different reasons.

Backs turned and wearing the same uniform, they were identical. The spikes of their hair, the slant of their shoulders, and the very manner in which they carried themselves were the same.

I bet Ayuzawa didn't notice that, though. The girl, also, Toya Nanami, gaped at her, and then stuck her tongue out. "I'm sorry, I forgot I was at school. Are you a monitor here or something?"

Ayuzawa helped her to her feet and took a step backwards, feigning a smile. "Actually, I'm the Student Council President." She peeked at me from the corner of her eye, and stretched her hand out towards the girl. "My name is Ayuzawa Misaki. You're the new girl, right? Toya-"

"Toya Nanami." She shook her hand. "Please, call me Nana."

There was a stiffness about Ayuzawa I didn't like. It was obvious how uncomfortable she was, talking to the girl whom everyone suspected was Takumi's lover.

She wouldn't strangle her; no, the president was more composed than that, but how could she even fake a smile? The best thing for her to do was walk away, not chat with the new girlfriend.

Was Ayuzawa emotionally suicidal?

Observation Number Six:

Takumi Usui arrived. He bumped my shoulder with his, muttering, 'hi, Kanou', so casually and walked over the two girls he was involved with.

He fished an orange ball from his pocket and threw it at Nanami's head. Ayuzawa, being the defender of the female population, opened her mouth to lecture Takumi, until she realized, well….that it was _Takumi_.

Nanami bent down to pick up the ball and threw it back at his face. "You better run now, Usui, or I swear in my name, I will-!" her face went blank, as if she was just slapped across the face, and she giggled. "Oh, what joy, seeing your face. C'mon, you promised you'd show me to the library."

Takumi put his hands in his trouser pockets and whistled a tune. "You almost lost it back there, sweetheart. Better keep your cool, or your face will melt and a monster will come out."

Ayuzawa took another step back, head down.

Nanami giggled again. "You're such a tease. Hurry, I don't like it here."

I must emphasize that her statement meant something. She didn't like it here in the hallways? Why? Because Ayuzawa was standing close to them?

My first theory got pulverized by Takumi before he left with that Nanami person. He waved curtly at Ayuzawa and said, 'Hey, prez', to which she replied with, 'hi'.

Once they were gone, I went up to her. "Ayuzawa…you all right?"

"I almost forgot!" She slapped her forehead and gripped her bangs in frustration. "We should return these to Class C quickly, Kanou! Fujiwara said I needed to make sure the segregation of the bottles was done correctly."

I did not object.

In Class C, Sakura and Yukimura were cleaning tables while engaging in a rather animated conversation. Later, we found out they were talking about Toya Nanami. Sakura even bothered to bring out a magazine to show us a full page covered with pictures of the actress, Takiyumi Mariya, from different plays to defend her side of the debate

"I don't see the connection," I said.

"Look!" Yukimura's finger pressed on one small photo of her. "This was her last play. Imagine her with shorter hair and without the bangs – doesn't she look like Toya Nanami?"

"That can't be!" Ayuzawa interjected, looking at the page once and slamming it close. "Why should an actress be in our school? It doesn't make sense. By the way, Sakura, I'm sorry, but I'll have to confiscate this."

"What? No way, Misa!"

Maybe it was just me. Maybe Ayuzawa was too quick to defend Nanami's identity. It became more than just a little suspicious from the point onwards, because I _did_ see a resemblance between Mariya and Nanami. If she wasn't the actress, there could be a chance they were related. A sister, perhaps?

I couldn't also deny the fact that Ayuzawa made sense. With her face on the magazines, advertising her performances, why should she study in a simple school like Seika? Miyabigaoka was just a few blocks away.

I narrated all these to Aoi while we stalked Ayuzawa after school.

"You're a slow-thinker, aren't you, Kanou?" he shook his head disapprovingly. "If that actress is indeed this Nanami person, and she's rich but studying at Seika, she could be there for one reason alone – Takumi."

Pulling him aside to evade a heavy-built mother walking her dog, I said, "She'd go there just for him?"

"Yeah. A girl can go crazy for a guy that she'd jump off a bridge if he tells her to."

"That Nanami seems too sensible to do that, but she was acting weird earlier. When Takumi threw her that orange ball, she was as pissed off as Ayuzawa normally was if Takumi threw that ball at her, but then she switched into a sweet persona and clung to him."

Aoi stopped. He possessed that look again, the one I assumed all human would only wear once NASA declared Earth was about to be hit by a stray asteroid. "Could it be that Takumi hired her to make Ayuzawa jealous?"

I, too, stopped. "I don't think Takumi would stoop that low."

"We'll never know, my friend."

"Hey, where's Ayuzawa?"

"Behind you, pal."

Aoi and I jumped and screamed like two little girls at the sight of her, grimacing, poised to murder us both.

"H-h-hey, Misaki!" Aoi lifted his hand to get a high-five, but Ayuzawa simply stared him down.

"What do you think you're doing, following me like that for two days now?" She grabbed my collar. "And you, Kanou, I knew I smelled something fishy since the morning you asked if I was doing fine. Don't tell me you still have plans of destroying the student council? I thought we were through with this, buddy?"

The next seconds, when she started to wobble and fall, I could not decide if it was our luck or her misfortune. I knew Aoi and I were safe from an after-school beating by the student council president, but we had a new problem in our hands.

We rushed her to the hospital. In the emergency room, Aoi yelled to get a doctor and attend to her quick.

To cut the long story short, we told the doctor Ayuzawa was pregnant and had been working herself to exhaustion nearly every day. The doctor looked neither surprised nor sympathetic at our revelations, but he assured us that if we calmed down, he would do his best to find out what was truly wrong with her.

Aoi had some contacts. He called the manager of the café Ayuzawa worked in, and asked her to inform Mrs. Ayuzawa that her daughter was in the hospital.

I just sat there, 'useless', as Aoi once called me. My hands warmed my face as we waited for news.

"She'll be all right." Aoi sat beside me, offering a cup of coffee. "She's strong. You go to the same school as her, you should be aware of that."

I nodded and took the Styrofoam cup. It was hot. "We shouldn't have let it come to this," I said. "I should have confronted her at school this morning."

Aoi fell silent. "Kanou, do you know where that Takumi lives?"

"Why?"

"I want to beat the crap out of him."

A man cleared his throat. We both looked up and saw the doctor.

"You can see her now. She's awake and responding to the treatment."

I stood, fists clenched and quivering. "How's…how's the baby, doctor?"

A nurse handed him a document to sign, but he disregarded her. He paused to think. "Oh, the baby's gone."

"Gone?" Aoi and I said in unison. We dropped our cups of coffee. They rolled around our feet.

The doctor shook his head at the mess we made. "What I meant was," he said, "There's no baby in the first place. Can't you kids recognize a joke?"


	6. Chapter Five

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter Five**

Ayuzawa couldn't even say the word.

She sat on the hospital bed, staring at us with her fists clenched beside her, saying nothing.

I could not move my head to look away from her to glance at Aoi. Too many things had caught me off guard tonight that I couldn't begin to consider which surprised me the most. The hum of the air conditioner kept me occupied for a while. I didn't want to think about all these. When Ayuzawa asked for it to be turned down, the humming stopped, and I panicked because they might hear the pounding in my chest.

Nobody reacted, and I sighed quietly in relief. There really was no need to panic.

"The two of you thought," Ayuzawa took a deep breath and pink spread across her cheeks. "That I was…pre…"

"It was Aoi's idea." I said at last.

The little boy beside me stuttered, failed to defend himself, and hit my arm. "You were in it too, coward!"

The nurse beside Ayuzawa snickered, and the room fell silent. "I'm sorry, I know it's none of my business," she giggled as she unwrapped the grey paraphernalia from the president's arm and hung the stethoscope around her neck. "But isn't it nice to know you have friends who care about you? Besides, if you were indeed pregnant, at least you're sure your boyfriend will not leave you no matter what. Hey, being a parent is a big responsibility, and he seemed ready to owe up to it just for you."

Aoi choked beside me, shaking his head like an idiot. "No! Y-you got it all w-wrong! I'm n-not-!"

The nurse pointed at me. "I meant this guy. Aren't you Miss Ayuzawa's sibling, little boy?"

He collapsed on the couch behind us, finally able to breathe. "I'm not her little brother! And," he grimaced at me. "This guy? Her boyfriend?"

Oh. They were talking about me. "No way! I'm just a friend, that's all. Right, president?"

Ayuzawa was looking at me. Her eyes were glassy, her lips curved down. "Anyway, guys, thanks for bringing me to the hospital. I think I'll get some sleep now. You two should go home; it's getting pretty late in the evening."

"Okay," the nurse collected her things. "Just press that red button if you need anything. Good night, Miss Ayuzawa. Boys, heed her advice. Your parents might get worried."

"Yes, ma'am."

She closed the door of the recovery room, and Ayuzawa threw me a pillow. "Both of you are hopeless! What was running in your head that you thought I was…_you know_!"

I tossed the pillow back to her, ready to answer, but Aoi raced me to it. "Well, aside from your 'indigestion', you and Takumi have also been avoiding each other!" he said."What were we supposed to think, huh?"

"That's still taking it too far!"

"Then why are you and Takumi avoiding each other?"

Ayuzawa slipped beneath the blanket and pulled it over her head. "It's nothing, guys. Don't take it too seriously."

Aoi sat on the edge of the hospital bed. "Hey, Misaki? I know you're not sleeping."

"It's really nothing worth your concern, Aoi. Takumi and I are just friends. There's nothing alarming if we suddenly spend less time together."

There would have been no better time to straighten things out with her. With only the three of us in this room and far from the presence of any familiar people, I should have supported Aoi's efforts to get an answer there and then, but I didn't.

"She's tired. Maybe we should go home?" I said, picking up my phone and swinging my bag over my shoulder. "Come on, Aoi."

The little boy hung his head low. He clutched the mattress. "Misaki, be honest with me. Is Takumi hurting you?"

The form beneath the blankets froze.

"You can tell us," Aoi said. "We're your friends. We've been so worried about you. Yes, this sickness might just be indigestion from over-eating sashimi, but what about the other thing that is so painful inside?"

"You've over-thinking things." She turned her back on us. "Please…I want to sleep now, really."

"Aoi," I said.

"Fine!" he grabbed his jacket and left.

His attitude annoyed me, but then again, I also slammed the door a lot at that age. I looked around the room, not knowing what else to do. There was no way I was leaving her without company.

I sat back down on the couch. "…He was only worried, you know."

She answered me with silence. For the next thirty minutes, while I waited for her mother to arrive, we shared nothing but silence.

It was okay. I was used to this strange ambiance with my mother. The only unusual thing about this was the fact that Ayuzawa wasn't my mother – she was stronger.

Why was she falling?

Mrs. Ayuzawa and the little sister arrived at around ten and caught me dozing. I jumped to my feet and greeted them. "M-Mrs. Ayuzawa?" I said, and the woman nodded. I gestured for them to enter. "Your daughter's okay. The doctor said she just ate too much raw food. I'm a schoolmate, by the way."

The woman pulled out a handkerchief and ran to Ayuzawa's side. She wrapped her arms around her, sobbing. "I was so worried something terrible happened to you! Didn't I tell you not to eat all those food Suzuna won?"

The sister, Suzuna, only sat on the couch, staring. "You ate all those food to try and stay awake for your exams, didn't you?"

Ayuzawa chuckled lightly, scratching the back of her head. "You knew? I had too much work to finish at school that I ended up asleep as soon as I got home, and when I woke up, it was early morning! What else could I have done to keep my energy up?"

"At least you learned your lesson," she said.

Ayuzawa looked at her mother. She took her hands and forced a grin. "Don't worry about the expenses, mom! I'll find a way to get us through this. While we're here, you should enjoy the air-conditioning! Isn't it refreshing?"

Her efforts struck a cord within me. She was the one sick and in need of comfort, but she refused to acknowledge her current state of weakness. She remained strong for her family. Her strength brought shame to me to the point that it hurt.

What did _I_ do for my father when my mother left us?

I bid them goodbye once they were finished talking. They let me go without further inquiries, and I was grateful that they were less intimidating than the president.

I put on my headphones as I waited for the elevator to land. Slowly, the doors parted, and a man came out. I watched him pass by me, trying to recall where I had seen him before. The glasses, the tall frame, the unsmiling mouth…I was sure I had seen him prior this night.

I peeked around the corner of the hall, and the man entered Ayuzawa's room.

For a while I contemplated whether or not to eavesdrop on them, but the nurse's station was straight ahead. Like Aoi, they could mistake me for a pervert and shoo me. Worse, they could send a guard to throw me out. Once I decided to let them be and give up on the whole thing, the elevator had all ready shut close. I was forced to take the stairs.

Aoi waited for me outside the hospital. He said he was hoping to talk to someone. I sat beside him on the steps near the driveway leading to the emergency room.

"You really care about Ayuzawa, don't you?" I said.

The little boy scratched away his bangs from his forehead. "I was. You have no idea how relieved I am to find out she isn't actually pregnant. I thought I'd have to hunt down Takumi and beat him to a bloody pulp because of this."

"Well, you won't be any match for him to begin with."

He stepped on my foot. "Care to say that again?"

"Ouch, you didn't have to do that!"

"Is Misaki okay now?"

I nodded and offered him my headphones. "She's in the hands of experts. Care to listen to music? It might lessen your frustration. C'mon, it will help."

Aoi stared at it, scowling, but grabbed it anyway. I let him listen to Akeboshi and Sambomaster for as long as he needed, for as long as he couldn't go home, because I had been in that situation before. Sometimes, home wasn't the haven we expected it to be.

With that in mind, after an hour and thirty minutes of music, I prompted Aoi to go and rest without telling him that I saw Nanami waiting in line at the hospital's cashier, or that Takumi was watching us from the second floor of the café across the street the whole time.


	7. Chapter Six

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter Six**

To keep track of these weird occurrences properly, I wrote them all down in a notebook I did not even remember owning until I found it cramped at the back of my bookshelf, creased and dirty.

The whole evening I spent on writing my observations and scribbling our failed theories.

Ayuzawa had a problem with Takumi – correct.

Ayuzawa was bothered by Toya Nanami – correct.

Ayuzawa lied to Yukimura and went out with Takumi – wrong.

Ayuzawa was pregnant – wrong.

Takumi still cared for Ayuzawa – pending.

Toya Nanami's appearance in the hospital where Ayuzawa was confined could not be a coincidence – pending.

Takumi was a jerk – correct.

I stared at these until my eyelids fell, and I drifted into a dream where everything was back to normal.

The sun bathing my face through the gaps of the curtains jerked me awake. Damn. Today was the last day before the festival; I couldn't be late for school. With practiced precision, I kicked my worn clothes under the bed, pulled my trousers up, hopped to the bathroom with one foot, brushed my teeth with my right hand and combed my hair with the left, flipped my closet upside down for a clean uniform, rolled on my socks, snatched my hoodie from behind the door, and sprinted downstairs for breakfast.

The table was set in its usual order, with the usual breakfast served. With a quick scan, I picked out two fried eggs, one rice ball and a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

"Your glasses," Dad reminded me as he flipped to the business section of the newspaper.

I cursed and ran back to my room to find it amidst the mountain of trash I considered my valuable possessions. I was running out of time.

"I have an extra on my desk!" Dad yelled. "Grab another box of cigarette for me on your way down. It's next to the shampoo on the bathtub!"

"Great, dad, thanks!"

I had put on his eyeglasses and tossed him his cigarettes when it dawned on me that he was onto something if he was helping me out. His jaws worked tensely as he chewed on the burnt bacon, and finally he flicked his eyes towards me. "Sit down."

"I'll be late."

"Sit down, Kanou."

I sat down, watching him put food into his mouth one by one. "Stop pretending that's a doughnut and the kitchen is an interrogation room, dad. You're not a policeman. Ask me all ready so I can go to school. Hey, you promised you'd sell those tickets to your officemates. You didn't, did you? C'mon, give them to me. I'll sell them after school."

He folded the newspaper in half and rolled it. "Is there anything you want to tell me, son? Are you mad at me? Did I raise you wrong?" Tucking the newspaper under his arm, he lit a cigarette and raised his eyebrows. "Well?"

I looked around the room, hoping a brother I never knew would pop up and tell me he was the delinquent dad meant to scold. "Me?" I said. "What did _I_ do?"

He stood and motioned for me to follow him to the living room. The few strides we shared in silence, as he terrified me with his act, I wondered if, after eight years, he finally noticed that his wedding picture with mom was missing on the wall. There would be no better time to confess that I burned it the day mom left.

Dad pulled open the curtains. Light shed on five, pink paper bags with the intertwined letters V and S printed on both sides.

Okay, he still hadn't noticed. I wouldn't tell him.

"You went shopping, dad?" I shrugged at him, who was now trying hard to look like a Mafia as he blew out grey smoke and shook his head.

He coughed. I went back to the kitchen to get him a glass of water.

Once he was breathing steady, he flipped over one of the paper bags, and a red dress fell on the table. We looked at each other.

"Do you have a girlfriend you want to tell me about, dad?" I held the dress up. "Wow, dad, is your girlfriend your size? This is…_wide_!"

Dad gripped my shoulders. He held in his breath. "Kanou…I might kill you, but tell me if you're gay."

I blinked at him. "…Excuse me?"

"Are you gay?"

"What the hell, dad?"

"Well," he gestured to those frilly, pink bags, "These came in this morning! When I asked the girl who ordered these, she showed me your name on her list! What-Where did you get the money to buy Victoria's Secret? Did you steal one of my credit cards? How long have you been cross-dressing and in such expensive clothing too, huh?"

I didn't know where to begin. "Dad, I don't know what the hell is Victoria's whatnot and who is Victoria anyway? Heck, I'm not-" I stopped, finally comprehending everything that was happening. I ran back to the kitchen for my bag and waved dad goodbye.

"Wait, Kanou! Tell me I have a _son_! _A son_!"

Luck was on my side. During the last day of the festival, the teachers could care less if all the girls wore colored socks or all the boys got their tongues pierced. Nobody would mind how late I was; I just needed to show the teachers I was helping.

I climbed the stairs two steps at a time, and lo and behold, Ali was waiting for me at the top. She had her hands on her hips, and her hair tied up in a very high and tight ponytail that I could see her expression without trying. She was mad.

I came to a halt beside her, hyperventilating. "Are…are you all right?"

She eyed me from head to toe and back up. "You're late. Yukimura's been looking for you. He needs help with the banners."

"Oh, what a surprise." I checked my wristwatch. "How about you? Why aren't you with Yukimura? Hey, did the president go to school today?"

Her face flushed a deep red, and she shook her head no.

"Ali? What's wrong?"

She shook her head again and walked back to her classroom. What did I do wrong this time? Just as I was jogging through my memory for an answer, Observation Number Seven arrived.

Ali said the president was absent, but as soon as I saw her on a corner of the crowded hall, alone and fiddling with her shoe, I was convinced she was indeed a stubborn woman and needed help back to her senses.

"Ayuzawa," I called.

She did not turn. Instead, she cursed her shoe. My initial thought was the crowd was too noisy for her to hear me, so I tapped her shoulder and got her to turn around.

"Yes?" she yelled.

I backed away. "Y-you're not Ayuzawa."

She stood up, rubbing her nape. "No, I'm not. Hello, I'm Toya Nanami. Please do not gawk at me as if I've just ripped the face of Ayuzawa and plastered it over mine. People have been mistaking me for her throughout the day. _Hello_?"

Their resemblance struck me. "Oh."

"Oh?" she giggled.

"I," Jabbing my thumb behind me, I said, "I have to go. Okay. Bye."

I was three steps away from her when she yelled 'wait', and made me watch her fidget as she tried to explain how exactly she needed my help. Her words passed my brain without impact, and all I really did was stare at her as if the mystery would end if I looked hard enough.

What did Takumi see in her? Yes, she had straighter hair, fairer skin, ampler eyes, but…at the end of the day she was not Ayuzawa. I had often looked at dad over dinner and asked him mentally why he lied about loving mom. Love wasn't supposed to be broken my simple misunderstandings. Love was more than that. But…perhaps, it wasn't truly love between Ayuzawa and Takumi.

Nanami released a sharp breath and smiled. "Sorry, am I boring you?"

"Ah, what was that?"

She wriggled her right foot in the air. "My shoe is glued on me, and I can't take it off. If I can't take it off, I won't be allowed to enter classrooms, hence I would be useless for the rest of the day and I am desperate for something to keep my hands busy to take my mind away from the matters that frustrate me. Have I made myself clear the second time?"

I shrugged. "Yeah?"

"So," she clapped her hands once. "Will you remove it for me?"

"What?"

"My shoe. Will you remove it from my foot for me?"

"No."

She pouted. "Why not? It's a simple request."

"Then let Takumi do it for you," I said. "Isn't he your boyfriend?"

Nanami lowered her head, leaned on the windowsill, and muttered a 'thank you'.

My mind willed that I leave her alone, but my body refused to move. Watching her stand idly on the corner, clueless of what to do, just didn't sit right with me. She was Toya Nanami, girlfriend of Takumi Usui, admired by majority of the population, but she was friendless.

I looked around, and people passed us by with only a glance.

Were they afraid to come near her?

"Let's go to the back of the school," I said. "There are taps behind the gymnasium we can use if you don't want people figuring out how you got…attached."

She ran her sleeve across her eyes and forced a smile.

Apparently, Nanami was helping Class B stitch yards of cloths together when one of the girls decided her handiwork was horrible and tasked her to gluing words on the door instead. First she misread the slogan and patterned the words wrong, and she kicked the bottle of glue in annoyance. Alarmed, she picked the bottle up, unaware her foot was drenched with the glue, and slipped on her shoes to replenish her wasted supply in Class B.

Now she sat on a bench, expressing how stupid she felt.

I dunked her foot on the bucket of water and slipped a ruler inside, estimating where she was stuck exactly. "If only we have hot water, this would be easier."

"I agree."

"Was I the first person you asked for help?" I glanced up at her.

"…Yes. I was embarrassed to ask anybody else," She said. "It's because I saw you with Ayuzawa the other day, and I figured if you're a friend of hers then perhaps you're a good man willing to lend a hand."

Good men didn't like bad people, I thought, especially those who hurt their friends. "So why isn't Takumi helping you with this?"

She lowered her leg in the bucket. "I didn't want to bother him. He's been…stressed out lately. I didn't want to add to his burden."

"He shouldn't think of you as a burden – you're his girlfriend."

"Well," she chuckled. "We were friends before this, and I know when he's reached the limit of his patience. He's not exactly the kindest at times of frustration."

"Can I take off your sock? I'll need to scrape it off your foot." I said, and she nodded. Rolling it off, I saw the amber gel of the glue stretch and loosen on her heel. This would be easy. "You mean to say you had a fight with Takumi?"

"We always fight. We won't last a day without storming off on each other."

So much for the ideal couple. "Then why did you agree to be his girlfriend?"

Nanami burst into laughter, and I realized the way I poked my finger between her sock and her foot was tickling her. I sat on the ground and resumed to using the ruler.

"You were saying?" she hiccupped.

"Why did you agree to be his girlfriend in the first place?"

"He needed me."

I looked at her face, saw her sad smile, and was convinced. "Why?"

"He's like a lost soul and I'm his reaper!" Nanami pretended to be holding a scythe, "But he's not dead yet, so I'll send him back to Earth when it's time. Then, everything will return to normal!"

I snickered, suddenly finding her childishness amusing. "Then you're not a reaper. You can only be the angel or the devil, depending on which shoulder you sit on."

Silence penetrated the conversation, and I wondered if I said the wrong thing. Nanami pulled the bucket towards her and leaned her elbows on her knees. "Which do you think I am?"

Her face was so close I shuddered, but then something about her right eye caught my attention. "Are you wearing contacts?"

She leaned back. "Contacts?"

"Your eyes aren't brown," I hissed, "Your contact lens is falling off, and your iris is green."

Nanami slapped her hand over her right eye. "It's a habit. I collect all colors of contact lenses. Last month I've scored my fiftieth."

"Remove it. Colored contacts are not allowed in school." I fished out my handkerchief and asked that she give it to me, so I could give it to Yukimura.

She bit her bottom lip, and sighed. Tipping her head back, she slipped out the contact lenses, put them inside a glass box, and handed it to me. "Please take care of that," she said. "Those are terribly expensive. Rare find."

I tucked it in the pocket of my jacket. "Sorry. School rules."

"I know," she grinned. "Wow, you're blurred!"

Wasn't it a disguise? I had poor eyesight too, and by the way she was feeling for her surroundings, I could tell she was genuine. "Can't you see? Do you need it back?"

Nanami giggled, squinting her eyes at the direction of my voice. "Probably, if you don't want me to end up in the hospital."

Then it all came back to me: who this girl was, how she had been an instrument of torture to the president, and whose side she was in. I peeled her sock off slowly, choosing my next words with care. "But you've been there, haven't you?"

Her grin fell. "Been where?"

"The hospital." I put her shoe and sock beside her on the bench. "You were paying something there last night. What was it?"

Nanami massaged her temple and asked for her contacts. "I can't see anything. Please give it back."

"Whose bills were you paying in the hospital?"

"Kanou!"

"Were you there because of Ayuzawa?"

"I have leukemia!" She screamed. She gasped for air. "I was there to pay for the medicines I ordered in their pharmacy. Can I have my contacts back, please? And what is it with Ayuzawa? I barely know this girl!"

I stood, not knowing what to make of this, not knowing what to do next. When I saw her contact lenses, I assumed she was in a disguise to look like the president, but suddenly she was almost blind without them. Suddenly, this girl had leukemia. Suddenly, she was innocent to me…and I was accusing her of being the devil on Takumi's shoulder.

I gave her back her lenses, and as soon as she wore them, she grabbed her shoe and limped back to the school building. "Mind your own problems," she said, "You've got them in all colors, don't you?"

She was gone.

Collapsing on the bench, I buried my face in my hands and took several deep breathes.

Where was this going?

Was I making this a big deal?

This wasn't really my problem, was it? I mean, at home, dad thought I was gay.

Observation Number Eight hit me on all angles of my face, I felt swollen.

My whole conversation with Nanami laid itself before me like a feast of mixed dishes. I would have been careful which food I picked, but she had all ready flagged the poisoned dishes for me.

The yellow flag was a warning: I never told her my name, but she knew it anyway, evidenced when she yelled it. No hesitation had clung to her afterwards, meaning she was sure of my identity.

Another yellow flag: She had poor eyesight like me, yes, but since she had entered Seika High, the only contact lenses she used was her brown ones. Was it in an effort to look like Ayuzawa? Was she deceiving Takumi?

The red flag: Initially, I considered Takumi the suspect behind the branded dresses delivered at my house earlier. Why? He needed to distract me; he needed me to have a bigger problem to focus on. It seemed, though, that Nanami knew all about it. I had my problem in all colors? Could she have been referring to the dresses? This was getting serious.

I took out my notebook from my back pocket and bit the cap off my pen.

Takumi Usui hostage of the evil Toya Nanami – pending.


	8. Chapter Seven

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter Seven**

Aoi was mad at me for not telling him about my observations in the hospital the other day. I had thought this through, and my ultimate plan to distract him from yelling at me was to tell him about Nanami. Hey, it worked.

"She said she has leukemia?" Aoi scoffed. "Excuse of the liars. They always say they're dying just to get out of trouble."

"I know, I know. I didn't buy it either."

He grinned. "Sending you those dresses from Victoria's Secret was clever, though."

"Ha, not funny. Dad thinks I'm gay."

Aoi ordered another cup of hot chocolate. "If you were, Kanou, you'd be a pretty lousy gay. I mean, you're completely and utterly boring."

I dropped another cube of sugar to my coffee. "That's a compliment, right?"

"Of course it is."

"So," I opened the notebook to an empty page. "What's the plan?"

It wasn't consoling to be back in The Cat's Hat for the second time to discuss the same business. The waiters passed our tables with grins and dropped them as soon as they thought we couldn't see their faces. I had no right to condemn them; if I were the one put in their horrible costumes, I would be miserable as well.

The next day, during the fifth day of this mystery, I regretted involving Aoi in this again. I mean, sure, his ideas were superb, only when I thought about it last night, all of them required a sacrifice on my part. I had debated in my head whether pursuing this was a bright initiative on my part as Ayuzawa's friend. This was serious, I knew. Nanami wouldn't have given me my own problems if she wasn't intent on keeping people out of whatever game they were playing at.

A game, yes.

In the hospital, I sensed Ayuzawa knew something about them that she refused to tell Aoi and I. She was concealing something significant, just as passionate as Takumi and Nanami were keeping their shadows hidden.

In addition, there was a name I almost forgot: Iya. Takumi had called someone named Iya on the first day of this mystery, emphasizing the need for that person to come to him or else he or she would carry the blame.

Iya. Who could it be?

I marched to school today with the pink bags, forcing myself to keep my eyes straight as I searched for Nanami. The girls asked if I was giving gifts to Ali and professing my love, and the boys hooted for me to treat them to Karaoke if Ali agreed to be my girlfriend.

What the hell? I didn't even like Ali.

Where was she today, anyway?

Takumi's blond hair flashed on the corner of my vision, and I twirled to see him walk through the side-door of the gymnasium. I sprinted around the school building and caught him treading down the front steps to sit beside Nanami.

This appeared to be a good opportunity to see if Takumi was her hostage. My aim was a look of relief on his face, knowing he had an ally in me.

She clenched the juice box while they talked. Tossing back her hair, she replied, "Genius. Take me to dinner at a fancy restaurant, I'll smile, you kiss me and we'll be done. Tomorrow, we can argue again about your lack of furniture."

"My lack of furniture is my choice, honey. Look, you're growing wrinkles."

Nanami elbowed him. "Look, company."

"Hey, Nanami," I said.

The two of them stood.

I stretched out my hands and dropped the bags in front of her. "You said I got them in all colors?"

Funny. I sounded so macho and suave when in truth, there was a little guy inside just begging for me to run away. _You are blind if you can't see the evil emanating from her glare_, said my conscience. When Takumi stood between Nanami and I, the little guy bid me farewell and died.

He slipped his hands in his trouser pockets and bobbed his chin up. "She has nothing to do with those dresses, Kanou. It was my idea."

"What?"

"Don't you get it, big guy?" he said. "Stay out of our problem."

Nanami tugged his elbow. "Okay, Usui, let's just leave. Kanou, go away!"

I sucked in a breath, and held it in to keep myself standing. "You _do_ have a problem. Why are you suddenly avoiding Ayuzawa, acting as if you don't know her?"

"Lower your voice, Kanou," he hissed.

Nanami shoved me away from him. "Leave us alone. Shoo."

"Answer me, Takumi. Doesn't Ayu-"

His fist collided with my face, squeezing my mouth shut. I drowned into a temporary stupor where I thought I was a bird, soaring in the air, whistling in the clouds. I blinked, and I was human again, lying on the ground. Footsteps and gasps drummed in my ears.

Takumi knelt beside me. He scooped me up by the collar and whispered, "For your sake, Kanou, stay out of this. Keep Ayuzawa out too. _Please_."

"Oh my goodness!" screamed a familiar voice. The next I knew, my head was on somebody's lap. While the girl wiped my face off dust, I saw Ayuzawa reprimanding Takumi. She was her angry self, but for some reason, I was sure her emotions weren't sincere. Takumi grabbed Nanami's hand and walked away.

Yukimura and Ayuzawa told me everything would be fine, and that they would take me to the infirmary.

Man, Takumi could punch.

I came back to my senses on a bed in the infirmary. Ali sat on a stool beside me, and the nurse said something about fighting just before the festival and left.

"Here," Ali pressed an icepack on my left cheek. "Better? Are you still hurt?"

"Mm."

She teased my hair away from my left brow. "The festival's began. You were out for three hours."

Three hours, I repeated in my head. What a shame I was. "..M-my shift…?"

"Yukimura took it for you." She unwrapped a bento. "Here's lunch. I all ready ate mine. Will you be able to make your afternoon shift?"

I propped myself up to my elbows, and with the aid of an inappropriate curse, I sat up properly. "Where are they?"

"Who?"

"Takumi and Nanami?"

She dug the icepack on my cheek. I screamed in shock. "That's cold!"

"Nice show, by the way, Kanou!" she bawled. "Now the whole school thinks you're so helplessly in love with Nanami that you'll do anything to steal her from Takumi!"

"I am not!"

"So just stop it!" Withdrawing the icepack, she got up and paced the room. "You've been acting really strange these past few days, and it's always about Ayuzawa! Do you – do you like her, Kanou? Are you actually willing to go to such stupid measures for her?"

"Ayuzawa?" I said, shaking my head, "No! I don't like her! Well, not in _that_ way, Ali. You don't know what's happening!"

"What _is_ happening?"

"I…I don't know."

Ali groaned. She flailed her hands every time she tried to speak. "Just - just stop it, okay? Whatever this is, stop it!"

A surge of emotions escaped from my chest, and my face burned. "What do you care? Who are you to tell me what I should or shouldn't do? You have no idea what's happening, Ali!"

"Neither do you!"

"You're just an annoying transfer student with nothing better to do than to follow me around, wishing I would notice you! Isn't that what you want? I notice you, Ali, but you're so silly I can't even begin to tolerate you!"

Her complexion paled until she camouflaged the bare walls behind her.

My words came back to me, and I opened my mouth to apologize, but was overcome with fear. "Ali,"

She spouted a couple of fleeting giggles. "I see. I see… All right," Zipping her bag close, she wore it around her shoulders, waved at me, and shut the door quietly.

I threw myself back on the bed and wished that, as fast as the little guy did, I would die.

Later, the nurse came back to tell me I could go. No, I wanted to argue, I was still feeling nauseous, but she wouldn't have believed me.

I walked the halls without a destination in mind. Music boomed from the speakers set all around campus. Strangers roamed the classrooms, buying trinket sand adoring hand-made posters. My schoolmates promoted entertainment to every visitor passing their booths. Enthusiasm bounced back and forth the faces of all the people I encountered in my walk.

Was I the only one who felt this way?

This familiar presence of loneliness and embarrassment…this was how I used to be before I met Ayuzawa and Takumi. They were the duo who introduced me to a crowd that pushed me into a different light of day – a new perspective in life.

Not everyone I became close to and cherished would leave. Not everyone was my mother.

When my feet stopped, I found myself on the rooftop, overlooking the festival.

Again, I was the bird, only without wings.

My left cheek throbbed. I didn't care. I sat near the edge and watched the people pass in a blur of a hundred different colors. Someone out there felt the way I did, but they weren't within reach.

Someone, help me.

"Hey,"

I was too tired to move. "Who is it?"

The girl went behind me and crouched. "Ayuzawa."

"Yeah? Does the principal want me?"

"No…"

"What do you want?"

She leaned her head on my back and remained that way for a couple of minutes. I noted how light she felt, and how her mere presence cut my burden in half. Her breath seeped into the fabric of my uniform and warmed my spine.

"Kanou, can you do me a favor?"

I all ready was, wasn't I?

"Sure."

"Do what Takumi says. Please leave them alone. It's really none of your business."

"…But this isn't how the both of you are supposed to be."

"I'm okay. You know I'm okay."

"No, you're not."

"This is just temporary." She sobbed. "Takumi and I are okay. This will all get better next week."

I listened to her cry. If I hadn't known her, I'd have thought it was a seven year old behind me, relaying the pain of a scraped knee with her tears. That moment, I had the urge to turn and see if the president, strong and manly as she was, could cry like the rest of us.

I couldn't. She reminded me of the video of mom receiving me from the nursery of the hospital after I was born.

"Promise me, Kanou."

"What will I promise?"

"You'll stay away from Takumi and Nanami…for _me_? Please?"

A sparrow rocketed past our heads and flew northward. "Sure," I said. "I promise."

This was how the mystery was supposed to end. I had overstepped my bounds as Ayuzawa's friend, had gotten myself punched by Takumi, and had pushed away the girl who picked my head up from the dirt. Mysteries were secrets in need of people to unravel them, and I considered the possibility that I just wasn't the right person to unravel this one. The white towel had been thrown in the ring, and I agreed with the little guy inside me to let this pass. I did what I could for Ayuzawa.

Now, I needed to speak to Ali.


	9. Chapter Eight

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter Eight**

How should one apologize to a girl? My father had tried serenading mother, but she fell asleep on him because, as it turned out, she had been drinking vodka beforehand. He, in fact, had also tried sitting her in the living room and telling her the truth, but that only led to the eventful divorce.

When I thought about it though, between the two, I would rather tell the truth.

It was our shift together in the horror booth. I had gotten myself dressed and painted like an Egyptian mummy, gauging between the grandeur of Amhenemhet and Tutankhamen at first, then later degrading into a low-class corpse because the heat kept melting my make-up.

The first I saw Ali inside the booth, I nearly crawled back inside my pyramid.

"Isn't she a horrifying dead bride?" Yukimura said.

Ali merely glanced my way and resumed helping Misago loosen her corset.

Yukimura sat beside me inside my pyramid and asked, as politely as was possible, if she and I were okay.

"Yeah."

"Really? She's been on her phone all day, arguing with someone in English."

The booth manager rang the bell. Five minutes before the re-opening.

"Oh…she speaks good English?" I said.

"Surprised me." He said, staring at my swollen cheek. "Does Takumi's punch still hurt?"

I couldn't stand still for more than ten minutes because of the pain. "Nah. He's not that strong."

"I see."

"Who was Ali talking to?"

"Dunno. Want me to ask?"

That was Yukimura, so innocent oblivious. I motioned for him to go away. "You won't want to be caught lingering once the customers arrive."

"Should I ask her for you?"

"No, Yukimura, but thank you anyway."

He dusted his pants, bumped his forehead on the wooden skeleton of the pyramid, nearly collapsed on me, but managed to exit the booth in time.

The music started, and I heard the people chattering outside, hooting and scaring each other.

I lay on my belly and prepared for the act, but I found myself unable to stop peering around the corner to the mini church where Ali was hiding. The blue light emanating from the screen of her phone made her face visible. She was hitting the keypads rather brutally.

Man, I really screwed up.

The first batch of customers arrived, and much to our luck, they were ten-year-old boys. The booth was designed in a way that you had to find the right path leading out, and every dead end you encountered contained the scariest ghosts. Ali was in the last dead-end.

I could not fathom why she would be chosen for that role. Ali was anything but scary. Her face was that of a little girl who cowered in the darkest corner of her room whenever thunder struck. She was the girl who hid in closets, the girl who loved unicorns, the girl who adored the fragrance of roses…the girl who cared for the boy she liked even when he was the stupidest of them all.

The group of little boys screamed like girls and ran from me.

I didn't even do a thing.

The instrumental music boomed louder now as they reached the exit.

One of the boys wearing a yellow Naruto t-shirt tripped and fell on the mini church. Ali jumped out and reached for his foot, but another boy in a jumpsuit kicked her head.

I sprinted to her, nearly slipping because of the fake grass, and shielded her from the frightened boys with my body

Yukimura and Sakura escorted the group out. The lights sputtered into full effect. I pulled away and lifted my arm from her head. "Ali, Ali, hey, talk to me. Are you hurt? Let me take a look at your head."

Ali unfurled from her shell and sat on her heels.

Sakura came with a first aid kit, and the rest of the ghosts, corpses, and extra-terrestrial creatures crowded around us. I swept her hair aside with one finger, careful, and winced at the bleeding bump on her temple.

Ali held her breath upon seeing my reaction. With a quivering hand, she reached up and felt for the wound. "_I'm bleeding_?"

"Oh my!" Sakura fumbled for a clean dressing in the kit.

"What happened to Ali?"

"A boy kicked her."

"What babies! Hey, somebody go outside and remind them they can't hurt us!"

I took the dressing and the cotton from Sakura because she was too panicked to differentiate between fake and real blood. Blowing feebly on the wound, I dabbed a cotton wool on her temple. "It's not bad." I said to Ali. "Let's go backstage. I can fix this myself."

She must have been hit hard because despite her angry motions earlier, she did not fight me when I half-carried her to the props room behind the curtains.

"There, on the chair," I lowered her very gently, and let go.

She shivered. She kept smoothing back her hair. "Am I..am I _b-bleeding_ much?"

I turned my head to look at her. "Ali are you…are you crying? There's no need to cry. It's just a cut no longer than my pinky nail."

"_Oh no_."

"Stay still."

Ali quivered badly. I scanned the room and found a blazer hanging on a Styrofoam window. Draping it around her shoulders, I bent on my knees and wiped her bump with the clean cotton dipped in disinfectant.

Her breathing steadied once I put the band-aid on.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

I straightened my back and popped my hip joint. Ouch. "…I-I should be the one thanking you…and…I mean I'm really sorry, Ali. What I said earlier wasn't true. I was just really pissed off at myself and I have a bad habit of blaming others for my mistakes because then it would make me feel better for a little while, but then it's wrong and-"

Ali chuckled. "What are you saying?"She wiped her eyes with her thumb.

"I'm sorry." I shifted my weight to my left leg. "You were always there for me and I took advantage of your kindness. It's okay if you don't forgive me. I'll understand. I'm jerk, aren't I?"

"The biggest jerk I've ever met." She scoffed, "Yet. And I'm happy I met you."

"…You don't sound like you want to kill me…"

"I don't. Why should I?"

Finally, I swung my head down to see her face. Bloodied with red paint and dressed in a tattered wedding gown, she was the prettiest dead bride that ever existed.

Ali arched her brows. "Thank you for being man enough to own to your mistakes and apologize," she said. "Thank you, Kanou. For coming to my rescue ,too, I mean."

We finished the rest of our shift with a new-found friendship. Yukimura and the rest of the class teased us, but I didn't feel like being annoyed any time soon. Something good came out of the mystery, even if it wasn't the answer. I had Ali for a friend now, and I was certain she wasn't leaving me.

The first day of the festival turned out to be a success. Even Ayuzawa was grinning the way she used to, even if I could still see traces of uneasiness in her features. The parents and teachers commended the horror booth, especially after the incident with Ali.

"You handled it really well," the principal had said. "And you raised the highest funds in the whole school! Congratulations! Looking forward on tomorrow, students!"

As we were packing up, though, I couldn't stop myself from wondering where Takumi and Nanami had lingered. I shouldn't be thinking of them, should I? After all, I promised the president I would stay out of their business.

A promise was a promise.

Our batch was the last to leave the school that day, and I met Ali at the gate.

"Who are you texting?" I said, glimpsing her phone.

She put it behind her. "No one, no one important. Walk me home?"

"It must be important if you've been on your phone all day."

"Are you jealous?" She smirked and prodded me to start walking.

I could feel my ears burn. "No! I'm not a jealous person, you know. I was just wondering, that's all."

Ali didn't push the topic like most girls would have. I was grateful.

The city streets reminded me of the times I stalked Ayuzawa, thinking she was pregnant. A strong girl, our president, but she was secretly fragile. The skin on my back where she cried on still felt damp.

Everything would get better next week?

Next week? How could Ayuzawa be so sure?

Ali stopped in front of a condominium building west of the city. "Here I am. You've got a long way to walk, Kanou. Are you sure you're going to be fine?"

I couldn't stop gawking at the height of this building. "_This_ is where you live?"

"Ah-huh. Got a problem with that?"

I shut my mouth. "You failed to mention how rich you are."

She made a face. "You don't exactly tell people that. I don't brag. Besides, this is only temporary."

"_Temporary_?"

"Oh, the time!" she frowned at her wristwatch and headed for the lobby. "Bye, Kanou! Be careful!"

Okay, I thought. That was that. Ali was rich, and she didn't act like it.

That gigantic building haunted me all the way to my own, humble, subdivision. It reminded me of mum, actually. We went out to shop in the city a lot, and she would always stop in front of those grand infrastructures and whisper to me that one day, she would live there.

I had asked her why I wasn't involved in her plans. Now I could only imagine how long she had been planning on divorcing dad and leaving us broken all for the sake of money.

Good if she found a rich dude who loved her. Although, I would hate to have half-siblings. How complicated would that be, sharing a mother with snob strangers? They would probably make dad and I look bad.

I turned off my phone as a final message to Aoi that I didn't want to talk. The plan worked; Takumi wasn't a hostage.

I would have to burn the notebook once I got home. I made Ayuzawa a promise.

The roaring of an engine alerted me of an incoming car. I jumped to the sidewalk to avoid a puddle.

For a moment, as I bobbed my head to the rhythm of Again by Yui, everything was back to normal…and then quickly averted to utterly, profusely _ab_normal. Unless people nowadays called the event of being forced into a car by men in black suits and shades normal, I could be wrong about this deduction.

I mean, how normal was it to buy chloroform, pour some into a normal handkerchief, and make a normal high school student pass out in a normal car?

But no, this car wasn't at all normal. I fell unconscious inside a BMW.

"Yes, we got him," said the man beside me.

SS


	10. Chapter Nine

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter Nine**

It was impossible to tell how long I had been here. It was impossible to feel for the world while a black cloth covered my eyes. Five senses, I reminded myself. I had five senses, but without sight, I was lost.

I had never trusted my nose, because the slightest smoke from cigarettes reminded me immediately of my father. Of course, it couldn't be dad who was smoking in front of me now.

My ears were no good, either. The silence only reminded me of being left alone in the house at six years old, while the recurring murmurs in the background reminded me of my aunts and cousins bashing my mother.

Ah, mom.

Mere fright was enough to bring her to mind.

"Okay, boy, tell us your name," said a man with an extremely low voice.

He was the smoker – I was sure - because I could feel his stinking breath on my face.

"K-Kanou. Kanou."

"Any surname, kid?"

The man who spoke didn't have a Japanese accent. A foreigner, I assumed.

"Surname?"

No. They would find my dad and hurt him too. "What do you want from me? What do you want? What did I do to you? Let me go!"

Someone to my right sneered. "Be done with him."

Every part of my body trembled. My throat clenched, my gut lurched, my palms sweated, my chest froze. I couldn't even open my mouth. Oh no, they were going to kill me. Be done with me? How were they going to kill me? Was dad looking for me? What time was it? Surely, he'd had noticed I was not home yet. He'd have called. My phone! My phone was with them. Oh no, they would come after dad.

"P-please! P-please don't hurt dad! Kill me, t-t-torture me, but please d-don't hurt him!"

The smoker grabbed my hair. "Answer our questions honestly, and we will hurt no one. Ready for a pop quiz, Kanou?"

He moved my head up and down. Up and down. Up and down.

"Question number one," he announced, "What is your relation to Takumi Usui?"

"…Ta-Takumi?"

"What is your relation to him?" He gripped my hair harder, and I screamed.

"Schoolmate! Schoolmate!" I yelped, "He's a schoolmate!"

"Oh, really? Just a schoolmate? Not a friend? Why did he punch you?"

I panted, trying to put my thoughts into words. "I was asking for help! I forced him to help us out with the work but he didn't want to so he punched me and told me to mind my own business and that he would help when he felt like it! He was annoyed at me that's why he punched me!"

"What do you know about him?"

"Nothing! I don't know the guy!"

"Do you know where he works part-time?"

I shook my head until I was dizzy. Sweat saturated my whole body. "Part-time? I don't know! We're not friends! I didn't know he worked part-time! Why are you asking me? Ask him yourself!"

The smoker smacked my head. "Raising your voice at me, huh? Who do you think you are?"

"I don't know Takumi Usui!"

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

It took me a moment to remember. "Ah, Nanami! Toya Nanami!"

"Describe her."

"Black hair, brown – almost yellow eyes…no, she has green eyes! She wears contacts! Nanami has green eyes and she's Takumi's girlfriend!"

"Green eyes…are you sure of that, boy?"

I bobbed my head up and down. Up and down. Up and down. I was going to throw up.

People moved around me. I heard footsteps, I smelled alcohol, I imagined knives and guns. They spoke in English.

Lying. True. Search. Hit. Eyes. Green.

I recognized very few words. They were planning on how to kill me. Dad, rescue me!

"All right, Kanou," said the smoker, "You will speak nothing of us to another soul, or I swear I will come back to beat you up until you bleed to death." He put his mouth next to my left ear and whispered, "Especially not to Takumi Usui…are we clear, little Kanou?"

And then, perhaps, I passed out.

I couldn't tell if he punched me so hard I fell unconscious, or I fainted out of stress and fatigue.

Either way, the next thing I knew, I was blinking myself awake, and the moon was hanging right above me.

"Kanou," a girl's voice called again and again. Hands moved about my face, dabbing something soft on my temples and then on my jaws. She appeared into view. "Kanou, wake up. You're in the playground, lying on the slide. What happened? What happened?"

Her soprano nipped a nerve in my head, and bile climbed up my throat. Yanking my body up, I leaned over the slide's railing and threw up.

She stroked my back.

My breakfast and lunch lay splattered on the pebbles below the slide, and my gut was beyond empty. Once I was done, the infrastructures around me steadied, and I felt better. I craned my neck to see the girl. "Ali? Ali, is that you?"

She embraced me. "I was so worried! I was trying to call you, but you weren't picking up! I went to your house, but there were police cars everywhere, and your dad was frantic!"

I wiped my mouth and swallowed. Sour. "Dad? Is dad okay? Does he know I'm here?"

Ali put her hands on either side of my face. She looked me directly in the eyes. "Kanou, tell me what happened. How come you're here? How come you're like this?"

I told her. The men, the shades, the suits, the smoker, the BMW, the blindfold…the fright, the questions, Takumi, Nanami…I didn't know what to make of them, so I told her the facts, hoping she could help me sort them out.

"But Ali," I said, gripping her arm, "They warned me not to tell anyone. I shouldn't have told you. You'll be in trouble! How stupid can I be? What do I do?"

She shook her head, her expression calm. "No worries, I can keep it secret, Kanou. I won't tell. And you shouldn't, either. I'll call the police and tell them you're here, okay? I'll tell them you're here."

"They will ask, Ali!"

"Say some drunk men beat you up and left you here."

"Those men wanted information on Takumi and Nanami!" I hissed, afraid they were still spying on me. "Shouldn't we confess? I mean, what if they come after those two? What if I gave them the information they needed?"

Her eyes calculated mine. She pressed her lips together, thoughtful. "What did you tell them?"

"Nothing! I…I mean, they asked about Takumi's part-time job, and his girlfriend," I gestured aimlessly around me, and I tried to stop, but I couldn't stay still. "I told them Nanami has black hair and green eyes…she's a transfer student…"

She gawked at me. "Nanami has brown eyes!"

"No, no! She wears contacts! I saw them!"

Ali stretched her legs and slid down. "I'll contact the police. Lie there and rest." Once again, she was pressing on her keypads like mad. Soon, she was on the phone, and she was walking farther and farther from me.

I put my arm over my eyes.

What was happening?


	11. Chapter Ten

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Author's Note: ** Okay, everyone, I'm still working on updating my pen name on every document. I recently went from EverCrimson to Liberty SleepStorm, so please do not be confused and bear with the changes. Thank you very much for understanding. Those two are one and the same.

**Chapter Ten**

Ali was able to find me because her neighbor, whom she managed to befriend, was the daughter of the Chief of Police. The soonest she figured I was the missing student from Seika, she begged the police to allow her to assist in their search because she was the last person I was with.

Although, now that the commotion had ended and I was safe in my room , I wondered how Ali found me before anybody else did.

There had been no time at all to think two hours ago when the police escorted me home and interrogated me.

I told them what Ali said I should.

Our little lie went this way: I was walking home, listening to Yui in my music player, when some drunken men in a red and black sports car drove by, demanding I give them my gadgets . Of course I refused and tried to run away, but those bastards appeared to be bodybuilders, and they knocked me unconscious.

The next I knew, I was lying on the slide, and Ali was trying to wake me up.

The police was slightly doubtful of my story, so they searched my bag to see if anything went amiss. I panicked, then, because I remembered my music player – the thing those imaginary drunks wanted – was inside the front pocket. Lo and behold, when they overturned my bag, they found nothing but my extra clothes, my school notebooks, and my extra pair of glasses.

Ali stayed in my house the whole time the police was there, watching everything I did, making sure my bruises were cared for.

Dad? He was glad I was alive.

I was glad to be alive too, for his sake. We were all each other had. I bet if mom heard of my kidnapping, she wouldn't even bother to call.

Still, my missing cellular phone, music player, and earphones upset me. The thought of those men in black stealing my gadgets appealed to me as odd. Could it be someone else took it to cover for me? Dad could have known and hid my gadgets before the police had the chance to touch it, but he would have demanded the truth afterwards. That left me with my accomplice, Ali.

Did she hide them for my sake? She had the best opportunities and right motives…but she would have returned them by now.

I rolled on the bed and wrapped the comforter around my body. As I was finally entering dreamland, my eyes snapped open and averted to my schoolbag.

Were my gadgets all they stole?

Bouncing to my feet, I scooped up my bag and spilled my things on the floor. I spread my school materials with my foot, carefully examining if there was an object I put in my bag this morning that was not here now.

The answer was on the tip of my tongue.

I crouched beside the heap and scanned them for my red detective notebook.

Believe it or not, even _that_ was gone.

Whoever stole my things was interested in discovering the kind of person I was through my music, the affairs I had with other people through my cellular phone, and the knowledge I attained about Takumi Usui through the red notebook.

The possibilities were endless. Either he came upon the notebook by rummaging my belongings or he knew about its existence beforehand. If, by chance, the thief were the group of men in black, then they would come back after realizing how well I lied to them.

A headache descended upon me, dragging me back to bed for some rest. Tomorrow, when I was in better shape, I would piece things together and return to the mystery.

It was not impossible for those men to target Ayuzawa next.

The only way I could attend the festival was to sneak out at six in the morning, while dad was still asleep. I was not so cruel as to make him worry again so soon; I wrote him a note explaining how I did not want to make a big deal of the mishap and at least finish the festival for my sanity's sake.

Our subdivision was extremely quiet that morning. I hesitated whether this plan of mine was brave or just plain stupid. Those men from last night could still be watching me, waiting for me to be alone before they dragged me to the nearest alley and shoot me with their expensive guns.

For the first time in my sixteen years, I was grateful Mr. Ishiguro, the gardener who lived right across our street, was always prompt in weeding his lawn. I would never forget he was a snoot, but even an old man like him with an attitude could save my life this one time.

He had superhuman ears. When I was ten, my friend, Saburo, and I sneaked into his lawn to kick his gnomes. Our discreetness was well practiced, and we made no sound aside from one subtle burp.

Mr. Ishiguro popped out of nowhere with his gardening scissors poised to cut us to shreds, and he chased us out his property while yelling he heard me burp as loud as he heard his own stomach growl.

His stomach had been the joke between Saburo and I later on. We made up stories about Mr. Ishiguro swallowing a dog, and ever since, the undigested animal had been barking whenever he felt hungry.

Saburo was the only person who approached me at school during the phase when I kept everybody out of my life because of my parents' divorce. He had seen from inside his favorite ice-cream parlor, noticed the ugly frown I sported, chased me across the street, and asked if I needed a friend.

It was a little awkward, that moment on the sidewalk beside the barbershop. I had seen him at school before. I knew he was as rich as my father would be in ten lifetimes, and that he was two years older than I. Why he bothered to talk to me, I never heard him say, but we became good pals partly because Mr. Ishiguro was such a great person to tease, and partly because he taught me never to go searching for my mother when it was her stupid decision to leave me.

Three years ago, he left to study in England. I never had a friend as close since.

"Hey, you!"

I looked across the street just as I was closing our gate. "Hey, Mr. Ishiguro. Good morning."

"You been kidnapped?" He held the bars of his front gate as though he was a prisoner begging for liberty. "You okay?"

I frowned. Here was the old man I turned into my personal laughing stock, asking if I was okay. Perhaps he had gotten over his snootiness?

"Yeah, I'm great." I ran across the street and stood outside his gate. "Are you worried those men will come back and terrorize other people? I'm pretty sure they won't, Mr. Ishiguro. Just…just make sure you don't walk the streets alone late at night."

He removed his straw hat, revealing his shiny bald. "I rode my bicycle around town the soonest I heard from the police who was missing. Your father nearly collapsed! I kept searching and searching – I even passed the playground twice – but you weren't there!"

The shaking of his voice alarmed me. He sounded almost worried, verging on furious, about the incident. Those round, black eyes turned glassy with the effort to speak.

Mr. Ishiguro was not much of a talker. Once, dad explained to me that it was because he found it difficult to, so when he did speak, it meant he found the topic worthy of his pain.

"Gee, sir…" I rubbed my temple, clueless of what to do. "You really didn't have to. I was okay. Nothing really terrible happened. Thank you for searching for me. Please, if something else happens to me, don't bother. I wasn't exactly kind to you before. I don't deserve your efforts."

"But the girl in your house," he hissed, craning his neck forward. His nose poked out the gap of his gate. "She was in the playground."

I refrained from exhaling while I absorbed this information. "You mean…Ali? The short girl in the school uniform who was in our house yesterday?"

"She was in the playground, talking to someone in her little telephone!"

"You mean a cellular phone, Mr. Ishiguro. Yes, everybody has one."

"There were two men with her," he said.

I gripped one of the metal posts. "…Really? What did they look like?"

"Come inside."

I looked at his house. It didn't appear so big anymore now that I was taller, but it still held that element of ambiguity about it. The gnomes were still posed around the flowerpots, frozen in their glee. The urge to kick at least one of them livened inside of me.

Nasty grins. Their crimson cheeks were maddening.

Mr. Ishiguro swung the gate open, and I followed him inside his house.

What mystery clouded the appearance of his residence from the outside was humbled to normalcy inside. His wallpapers were a faded green with gold linings and floral designs. My attention immediately flew to the fireplace, which cradled a gallery of photo frames.

"My wife," he chortled, pointing up at a wedding picture.

His younger version was only without those depressing wrinkles. His smile as he gazed into the eyes of his beautiful, much younger wife was conservative but sincere. I could tell from only this how much he must have loved her.

"Sit down, Kanou." He descended on his brown, leather armchair.

I sat on the couch. "You saw Ali in the playground with two men?"

"You do not know," he brought out a white Polaroid from behind his chair, "that I am fond of taking pictures. I always take one camera with me every time I went out, and I photographed this Ali woman. Do you want to see?"

"Yeah, of course!"

He tossed a deck of glossy papers across the coffee table. I picked up the one on top.

A girl in her uniform was sitting on the edge of the slide with her phone to her ear, her head down. Two men dressed in grey suits stood behind her, their stances alert. I took the next photo and examined it carefully.

She was facing sideways now, and I could see her eyes through the nearby lamppost. "This isn't Ali, Mr. Ishiguro. This wasn't the girl in my house. Yes, they do have similar black hair but see, this one has green eyes. Ali's eyes aren't green. Goodness, this is Nanami Toya! And the third guy walking towards her…oh no, that's the big man in spectacles at Seika and at the hospital…"

"Look at the rest, a black BMW drops by."

I gathered the pictures on my lap and lifted them to my face one by one. "It's the car those kidnappers used! Nanami was talking to them…" Flip. Flip. Flip. "They're taking someone out of the car! Hey, that's my shoe!"

The last picture was of the spectacled man looking at the direction of the camera. Then nothing. I gawked at Mr. Ishiguro. "They saw you?"

"Couldn't catch me."

"They chased you?" I yelled.

He shrugged, a smirk on his lips. "I've been in this subdivision all my life. I know how to get rid of those kind of people. Now tell me, Kanou, why did you lie to the police? Those aren't drunkards, those are men working for rich people! What did you do, young man?"

I stuffed the photographs in my bag and sprinted out, ignoring his call.

Nanami, possibly with Takumi, had me kidnapped and beaten. They even made it appear as though those men were after them, just so I would rule them out as the masterminds. But why was that man in glasses with them?

How could I have doubted Ali for one second?

What was Takumi and Nanami hiding that they went through such measures to keep me out of their business?

I slowed to a halt near the barbershop where I first befriended Saburo. The man in glasses met with Takumi and Ayuzawa at Seika last week, and he visited Ayuzawa at the hospital just a few days ago.

Ayuzawa _knew_ the man in glasses.

The people rushed past me. The stop light flickered red, and then yellow, and then green; I was the only man left standing on that side of the street, unable to pass.

"Kanou,"

I looked to my right, and Aoi stood a foot away from me with his arms crossed. "I heard about your incident last night. You might want to skip the festival and come with me."

"That might not be a good idea, Aoi." I kept my eyes fixed ahead, at the ice-cream parlor. "And you'd do best to stay away from me. Those men might come back and take you next."

"Do you remember the man in the glasses you mentioned back when all this started?"

My ears perked. "Yeah?"

"He's Takiyumi Hiro, Mariya's older brother," he said.

"Mariya the actress?"

He nodded. "Best part is, he's a relative of the Takumi's."

"What?" The green light with the silhouette of a man walking lit up. I couldn't move forward.

Aoi hesitated, but he took my immobility as a signal to finally face me. "And that 'Iya' person Takumi was talking to…could it be Mar_iya_? Iya? Could she be the one ordering Hiro to help sabotage Takumi's relationship with Ayuzawa? Could Mariya the actress be Toya Nanami?" He sobbed and sniffed, but the tears rolled anyway. "Could she be so mad at Ayuzawa that she even ordered the Maid Café to shut down? Answer me, Kanou!"

I pulled him behind the pillar of the barbershop. "Maid Café? What's that got to do with this?"

"It's the damn café Ayuzawa and Takumi works in, stupid! It was supposed to be a secret because she didn't want Seika to find out their president serves people as a freakin' maid in costumes!" Aoi bit his upper lip to stop himself from crying, but it only made his jaw quiver badly.

"They closed the…" I remembered. Those men in black asked where Takumi worked part-time in and who his girlfriend was. They _were_ after Ayuzawa, but she knew that all ready.

"So, Kanou?"

"…Huh?"

Aoi stomped his foot. "Did I make sense?"

I crouched down and pulled the hood of my jacket over my head. There was no easy way of turning someone down, so the best option was to do it quickly. "Any other day and I would have agreed, Aoi, but Ayuzawa…she knows something about this that's why she wasn't upset when Nanami popped up. If Nanami _is_ Mariya, then that explains why Ayuzawa confiscated Sakura's magazine when they were discussing the similarities between those two. That would also explain why she cried on the rooftop and begged me to stop meddling with Takumi because things would go back to normal next week..."

Gripping his shoulder, I added, "I'm sorry, buddy, but Ayuzawa could be in this together with Nanami and Takumi. If I'm correct, then your Maid Café didn't close just because Mariya or Nanami – whoever she really is – wanted to sabotage their relationship. There's something more, and I want you to stay away from me…because there is no way I'm letting this mystery go unsolved."


	12. Chapter Eleven

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Author's Note:** Thank you for your patience! Rest assured, I will be updating from this week onwards. I would also like to explain that the next couple of chapters, although they will continuously suggest something about the bond between Takumi and Misaki, will be focused on Kanou and his own endeavors. Thank you and God Bless! Much love and constructive criticism are always welcome!

**Chapter Eleven**

This festival made only some people happy. Behind all the colors, all the music, and all the dancing, every soul in pretense of having fun was hiding their own little mystery.

The biggest player of this pretense was the girl I had so much respect for: Ayuzawa Misaki.

I locked her image in my sight as I marched from the school gates, evading balloons of various animated characters, children sweeping past my legs, and classmates offering all sorts of goodies.

Nearly everything but Ayuzawa lost their color.

This could just be what dad felt when he confronted mum about their relationship.

I had nothing intimate of the sort with Ayuzawa, but right now all that mattered to me was the fact that I, without effable reason, would do anything to help her.

I had very few people in my life I considered precious. There was absolutely nothing wrong with committing my strength to aiding them in times of need, especially when they hadn't the courage to ask for it.

A platform had been erected in the middle of the field for the upcoming concert. A number of bands from neighboring schools promised to participate, and this was, by far, the biggest event of the festival according to Yukimura. Speaking of Yukimura, I was skilled enough to evade his ever so keen eyes when I slipped through the curtains that bordered the backstage.

Ayuzawa sat on a bench, wearing her physical education uniform, reviewing some cellophane cutouts for the lighting to be used come nighttime.

I grabbed her elbow, and she jerked in surprise.

We stared at each other.

She let out her breath. "Leave me alone, Kanou."

"No." I sat beside her. "You're going to tell me exactly what's happening, president. _Right now_."

She swung her left leg over the bench, stood, and headed out. I followed her, hissing, "I was kidnapped, didn't you know? Those men wanted to find out who Takumi's girlfriend was, how she looked, and where he worked!"

"Kanou, leave me alone!"

"Your Maid Café shut down, didn't it?"

Ayuzawa jumped back, evading the guitar Misago was strumming as she climbed the platform.

The crowd passed us. One of the male students asked Ayuzawa to sign a permit. She asked what it was for, and he said the sound equipment they hired had arrived. Class C had to fix the sound system within the next three hours. She scribbled her name on the lower right corner of the tablet. He left.

It felt like we were alone again.

Her shoulders shuddered. "How did you know?"

"It doesn't matter," I said. "Something's going on, and as much as I don't want to get involved anymore because those kidnappers might come after my dad next, I can't exactly steer clear of all of you! So just explain to me what the hell is going on so I can at least help you be done with it!"

Ayuzawa turned around, left hand on her waist. She looked up at me. "I'm sorry, Kanou. But you really have to leave me alone."

In that fragment of a second, I saw the opposition in her eyes. Everything opposite of what she said was there in her soul; she wanted help. A picture of a cloud of smoke rose on the glassy surface of her amber eyes, and as I was about to reach for her shoulder to promise I wouldn't leave, they widened, and she screamed, "Fire!"

I whirled to face the school building, and from the back, clouds of smoke really were rising.

The fire alarm rang.

Gasps and footfalls rattled my anger into a steep descent until it crashed into plain shock, and I froze for several moments before gaining enough awareness to chase Ayuzawa to the school building.

The people streamed past me. Shoulders against shoulders, feet over feet…overhead, the smoke consumed the kind clouds, slowly spilling over the gaps where the sunlight pushed through.

"Ayuzawa!"

Our statistics teacher stumbled out the main doors, his eyes tearing and his hands balled over his mouth to cough. Ayuzawa half-carried him out to the steps and pushed past another crowd to gain entry, all the while yelling for the students and visitors inside to file to the doors calmly.

"Ayuzawa!" I screamed with all the air I could use in one breath, and she glimpsed me, but continued inside anyway.

I pushed Mr. Kishimoto's shoulder to sit him upright. "Sir, sir! How did the fire start?"

He shook his head while sputtering words. I begged him to take a deep breath and speak again, and when he did, he said, "Horror booth! A kid knocked out a prop and the Christmas lights crashed and hit the curtains!"

The school bell interrupted the fire alarm, indicating noon.

My body reacted before my mind could understand why. While I was running inside the fogged hallways, climbing the stairs to the third floor three steps at a time, I realized it was because Ali was on-duty at this hour.

I doubled back, bending down to my knees to cough. The smoke burdened my breathing. I slowed my steps, reaching forward with my right hand and covering my nostrils with my left.

Something cringed when I stepped on it, and crouching down, I felt for it. It was a human leg. Brown pants. Male student. "Who is this?" I asked the silhouette leaning on the wall.

The soft voice winced, muttering my name.

"Yukimura?" I found his shoulders and hefted him to a nearby window. Sliding the windowpane, I pushed nearly half his body out. "Hey, buddy, breathe!"

He coughed. "Kanou…"

I raced to open the row of windows. One was stuck, so I removed my jacket, balled it on my fist, and punched it. The glass broke within two blows, and the smoke seeped out.

Wind hissed past my back. A hand grabbed my nape.

"Whoa!" I cried, yanking away, and saw the last person I wanted to rescue. "Takumi!"

He unwrapped Hiroshi's arm from around his shoulders and transferred him in my care. "Stay! I'll go get Yukimura! Bring them down and come back!"

"Ayuzawa!" I pointed to the gloomed part of the hall.

He stared at me, absorbed the said name, and he nodded. "Come back as quick as you can! There are students there!"

I nodded back. He secured a half-conscious Yukimura on my right side and assisted me to the top of the stairs, reminding me for the third time to come back.

Leading two full-grown men down a staircase while blinded by smoke inched me so slowly to completion. Thankfully, our physical education teacher met us midway and offered to take them. When I disbanded, he yelled for me to go the exit at once, but I debated that my classmates were still in the Horror Booth.

A female's voice crashed the monotony of the panic, screaming something along the lines of 'let me go' and 'have to save them'. Turning the curve towards the hall where I met Takumi, I slipped on a spilled soda and caught myself. The girl continued her hollering. I waved away the fog over my face, and I saw Takumi gripping Ayuzawa's arm to keep her in place.

"Get out!" he yelled, his face screwed in plain anger. His brows dipped, regretting his outburst. "I won't let you get hurt here."

She plunged forward. "We're wasting time, Takumi!"

He saw me then, watching them, and bent on his knees to throw her on his shoulder. She kicked and punched, but he managed to reach me without dropping her. "Take Misaki!"

"But-!"

"I said take her!" Takumi lowered her into his arms, imprisoning her so tightly she could only scream her protest. She saw me, and then she nearly cried. "Kanou! Help me get free from him! Tell him-"

"Please," Takumi extended her to me, like a gift, an offering. I accepted her. He leaned over to kiss her crown. "Please," he said, and then he ran back to disappear in the gloom once more. The only evidence of his presence was his voice, calling on a person named Iya.

"Kanou!" Ayuzawa kicked her legs. "Let me go!"

"Stop being so stupid, prez!"

She squirmed in my possession.

I rushed us to the stairs, taking comfort in her slight compliance.

Guilty of mistreating her, I said, "You can't do everything on your own! Can't you see? Soon enough, you'll suffocate and then how can we save you?"

"And Takumi isn't prone to the same dangers? Let me go!"

"What is wrong with both of you?" I bent to put her down.

She leapt away from me, smoothing down her shirt and coughing. She rubbed her eyes. "I'm going and you can't stop me!"

Her shoulders bumped mine, and at that moment, a ring in my ears warned me that if she went back, the very reason I involved myself in this mystery would disappear. I stretched my arm sideways, seized her wrist, and wrenched her. She hit the wall.

"Don't, Ayuzawa!"

"Ali and Shizuko are there!"

A familiar, shrill rhythm alerted us of the firefighters.

"Takumi can get to them!"

"Not alone!"

"Don't risk yourself for that bastard!"

"I love him!" She gripped my elbows, her chest falling as she exhaled the same words. "You don't understand, Kanou! He's doing all these for me! He's saving them so I don't have to!"

Everything else mattered less, at that point. Maybe she was right – I didn't understand.

A firefighter geared with an axe spotted us from the next plight of stairs and pointed us to his comrades. Ayuzawa gasped an apology, punched me in the face, and pulled free. I tackled her around the waist in a blind attempt to stop her, and one firefighter caught her before she hit the floor.

His partner shoved me away, instructing for Ayuzawa to be carried down to the paramedics.

She cried that Takumi and her friends were still in the Horror Booth.

"Hey!" The man slapped me on the face. "Don't think your behavior will not go unpunished because we are in an emergency! Naoko, Naoko!" he called to the series of men climbing the plight of stairs that led to the third floor. One young man whom I assumed was Naoko crouched beside us.

"Assist this crook outside and give him to his teachers – tell them he was molesting a classmate!"

"I wasn't!"

Naoko hoisted me to my feet with one pull and thrust me forward. "Go on!"

We pursued the fire exit on the east side of the building where the firefighters were pouring through with their instruments. Naoko kept a hold of me through my wrists, constantly pushing me forward.

Ambulances and fire trucks crowded the field. Teachers, students, and parents stumbled upon each other to help in appeasing the fire and caring for the injured.

Naoko lifted his visor and shoved me towards the principal, who was perking his ear to hear what the disturbed parent was screaming at him.

"I told you, I was just stopping her from going back!" I turned to him, but he thrust my shoulder back, preventing me from seeing him.

"Yeah, yeah, like I will believe you!"

"But-!"

On the farther end of the field, Ayuzawa lowered her eyes from the building and to my general direction. She clenched the seams of the blanket draped over her shoulders.

Naoko bound my wrist together at the base of my back. "You perverted boy!"

"Deaf man!" I said.

The hoses were twisted open, and they surged water to the third level of the building. I watched in amazement and horror.

Glimpsing Ayuzawa, I saw she had suddenly leapt to her feet, gawking at something far ahead. I followed her line of sight and saw Takumi burst from the fire exit with Nanami holding one of his arms. Firefighters stood on either side of them, assisting them out.

Takumi kept looking back over his shoulders.

There was a pause, and only smoke coughed out from the metallic open door of the fire exit. A wild pause, and then another firefighter burst forth, cradling Ali in his arms.

I wriggled myself free from Naoko to no avail, but stopped altogether when Takumi left Nanami, pushed through the firefighters, and swept his arms gently around Ali.

It shouldn't have occurred to me– the mystery as a whole – that moment, but my brain would not have any sort ignorance simply because I nearly died of suffocation.

"Ali," I had mumbled. "Alia."

Nanami shrugged off the blanket the paramedic draped on her and hugged Ali as well.

"Alia," I said again, watching the said girl awaken. "Iya."


	13. Chapter Twelve

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter Twelve**

I stood in a circle with Mr. Kishimoto, Naoko, Ayuzawa, and the firefighter who pinned me to the ground, Kazuhiko.

"I caught him, forcing himself on her, while she was screaming for him to stop," said Kazuhiko.

Mr. Kishimoto gave me a once over. His left eye twitched, and I hoped it was in disbelief that someone as boring as I would even consider rape during a school fire.

Unless everybody saw me that way beforehand?

"He wasn't molesting me, sir," Ayuzawa said for the fifth time. "He was stopping me from going back to the horror booth to rescue my classmates. Kanou would never hurt a fly."

I loosened the fold of my arms against my chest. Thank you, president.

Naoko grunted, and Mr. Kishimoto asked for his statement.

This teacher should hang out with dad more. Dad could get tips from him on how to act like an American police officer from Law and Order. I had always wondered why they liked watching foreign television shows; it was weird hearing the Japanese dubbed version when Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler looked anything but Japanese. I preferred subtitles.

"I saw none of it," he confessed. "Kazuhiko here just told me the story and asked me to lead this boy out. I saw the girl struggling and crying, so I thought it was be true. Everything happened fast."

Mr. Kishimoto touched the bandage wrapped around his forehead. He closed his eyes and flinched. "We can't do anything about it if your supposed victim, Miss Ayuzawa, will not admit to any sexual offense."

"Because there was none!" I declared.

Ayuzawa seized my elbow. "There was none, Mr. Kishimoto. Can we please go now? Kanou and I? I'm still the student council president, and he's hung-out with my vice-president enough to substitute. We need to be responsible for the rest of the festival."

"There will be no more festival, Ayuzawa."

"The booths and the goods will have to be accounted for, sir." She apologized for the inconvenience, thanked the firefighters, and pulled me out of the gymnasium.

Once we were far from earshot of that trio, she dropped my arm.

I rubbed the part where she held me. It would bruise. "Hey, are you mad at me?" I said.

"I am!" She huffed and scratched her face. "But I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be. You were only trying to get me to a safer place."

I stepped closer despite the chances of Naoko and Kazuhiko suspecting that I was still a pervert and in danger of molesting a girl out in the open. "I'm sorry, Ayuzawa. I really am."

She rubbed her hands together, her eyes averting from the shrubs to her shoes and to my knees. "Don't tell anyone what I said, o-okay? Nobody can know."

"…That you love Takumi?"

She nodded, her lips forming a slight pout.

"Why?" I hated to ask.

"Because…" she brushed her hair aside and dared to look up at me. "You mustn't."

"Will it cost you something?"

"Kanou." She lifted her fist for me to see. "I have enough problems at hand. If you don't leave me alone now, I will punch you again."

That was an offer to consider. Takumi's punch was nowhere near as whole-hearted as Ayuzawa's, and hers had the slightest intention to fracture my skull.

My body shook. I looked at my hands, and it was either my vision quaking or the rest of the world.

"Kanou?"

"I'm tired, Ayuzawa," I confessed. "My dad can be targeted next if I don't do something about it. If you won't confess to me for any other reason, then confess for my dad. Prez, he's all I have left."

She checked our surroundings. "They won't trouble you again, I assure you-"

"Who is Takiyumi Mariya, Ayuzawa?" I said, bending on my waist to be eye-level with her. "You know her, don't you? Is she Nanami Toya or Alia Castilio?"

"W-what are you talking about, Kanou? Who's Mariya?"

"You know who Takiyumi Mariya is! Stop denying it!" I said. "She's the sister of Takiyumi Hiro, the guy who visited you and Takumi here last week! Aren't they relatives of Takumi? _Well_? Aren't they involved in this mystery?" The distance in her expression forced me to shake her. "Well? Speak up!"

"Just stop this madness, Kanou! I have no idea-"

"Who the hell is Ali?" I said, louder than I ever intended.

The mention of Ali froze her.

Goodness…_don't let me be right_.

Behind her ears, a shadow of a man disappeared into the bushes.

I gripped her shoulders and nudged her behind me as I ducked to peer at the shadow. I looked back at her, searching her eyes, estimating. "Is someone watching you, Ayuzawa?"

She trembled under my hold, nearly shrinking…so much like a little girl now. This wasn't the president who fought me so valiantly for the reputation of the Student Council. This was just a normal girl ran out of words and without valor.

"Prez?"

She hit my chest. "You're a madman, you know that, Kanou? We've done everything to steer you clear of our mess and here you are, forcing answers out of me! Why? Didn't you promise me you'd stay away?"

"They kidnapped me, Ayuzawa. I have no choice now!"

"You have a choice: leave me alone!"

"But you're hurt!" I shook her again, to let her absorb this. "You're hurt! I don't want you to get hurt! Nobody does!"

She hit my chest again and again, her strength diminishing with each blow, until she shoved me away and bent to her knees, panting.

I sat on my heels, tired as well.

Suddenly, she yapped, "This is why I'm doing it! So nobody gets hurt aside from me!"

"That's _stupid_," I said.

"It's not! It's the only way I can show I care!"

"You're giving us no opportunity to show _we_ care!"

"It's _my_ problem!"

"You're my friend!" I collapsed further on the ground. The weeds poked me. "I have the right to intrude! Do you know how boggled I had been this week? First worrying that Takumi was no longer coming to your rescue, and then your vomiting and nausea that made me believe he got you pregnant and left you, and then this Hiro visits you in your hospital room while Nanami is at the cashier and Takumi watches Aoi and I from afar like we're some threat! Oh, and did you know that Takumi planted Victoria's Secret whatnot in my house to make my dad believe I am gay? That dad still isn't convinced of my manhood? That I'm stressing myself thinking you're the victim here and you have no ally to help you out of this bubble when the truth is – _the truth is_ – you are their accomplice! You've known their little game all along, haven't you? And this entire week, you've allowed me to look like the world's best idiot trying to go out of my way to help a friend who, in the end, is only going to tell me it's _her_ problem and unless she permits it, I don't have the slightest _right_ to _care_!"

"You got hurt because of me!" She burst. "Isn't that right? That's all I was avoiding when we started this thing you think is just a 'game'! All I wanted was to make sure this part of my life remained unaffected by what happens after school! Can't you get it, Kanou? Throughout all this, I just want a tiny bit of normal to get by. But _you_…" she sat across from me, stretching her legs with a moan of relief. Noticing our feet were but inches apart, she flicked her ankle to hit my toes. "You see things you shouldn't!"

I hit her toes back. "You burden yourself too much."

"You're nosy."

"You're selfish."

"Your glasses make your face look distorted."

"Your hair makes your head look like a fish bowl."

"No way! Your face is too long, and your chin is too pointed!"

"That the best you got? Your voice is so shrill you deafen the boys whenever you scold us."

She kicked my leg. "You like Yukimura, admit it, Kanou!"

"That's lame, Misaki." I pressed our feet together, wrestling our strength. "I may have phobia to women, but I'm not-"

"What did you call me?" she folded her legs up, quitting our mini battle.

I leaned my weight on my arms. "Mi…saki?"

Her expression softened.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called you that without your permission."

"It's okay." She slapped her hand over her face. "The way you say it…reminds me of my _dad_, that's all. It's just weird."

I folded my legs sideways and overlapped my ankles. "Sounds like you're not very fond of him…"

"He left us, and left us with _a lot_ of problems." She chortled, shaking her head. "Why are men so-so unmanly, huh? You all leave women with your problem and expect us to fix it so easily! We're not fairies!"

I cupped my face and rested my elbow on my left knee. "Don't ask me. Mum left dad and I. How'd you think I earned my phobia? You women just go off chasing your dreams without assessing the damage you cause."

She peered at me through the gap between her fingers. "Your mother did that?"

I nodded.

"So why are you so intent on helping me? Or don't you see me as a woman?"

"Not one of them, at least," I muttered, glancing at the bushes. Brown, leather shoes peeped out of the shrubbery. "So that man listening to us is what? Your bodyguard? How can you afford one?"

She followed my line of sight. "Usui. He's…not one of the men I was speaking of, also."

I watched her pluck out the grass around her. "It's serious, eh? Whatever your problem is?" I said.

"It's serious," she affirmed.

I opened my mouth to propose she admit the problem now, but instead I stood up and said, "I'll stop. I'll stop now. I'm sorry, Ayuzawa. I shouldn't have crossed my bounds, even if we're friends."

"You can call me Misaki," she said, forcing herself to smile at me. "And that bodyguard is here to escort us out of Seika once I'm done fixing what needs to be fixed in the student council. Usui said I shouldn't believe you when you say you'd stop, because the only way to stop you is by telling you the truth."

"If you're going to tell me anyway, why the effort to push me away earlier?"

"Because I-I don't want to tell you. I don't want you involved no matter how much you meddle, but after everything that's happened, and although I'd hate to admit it, I think I can trust Usui's instincts better than mine. He wants you tell you. Besides, after knowing all you've been through, I think I owe you a debt, and I hate owing debts – they just cause more headaches."

"…So you're going to tell me?"

"Not me." She waved her arm at the man in the bushes, calling him over. "Usui and the rest of us will."

Civilians I had encountered during the festival snuck Ayuzawa and I out of Seika and into a faded green van. The engine quaked the entire vehicle. Ayuzawa's bodyguard, an aged man of six feet in height and around two hundred pounds in weight, settled in the driver's seat, shouldering his phone to his ears as he steered the car out of the gutter.

"Yes, Boss, they're here…with that boy that was kidnapped, yes, Mr. Sotaro,..Miss Ayuzawa is safe. We're heading there now."

Ayuzawa sat silently beside me, her head turned to the windows despite having no view to watch. I would have offered to lift the blinds if common sense hadn't smacked me and said it was kept down for a reason.

"Is this a getaway car?" I said to break the monotony.

Misaki grasped the shoulders of the backrest and leaned forward. "Mr. Park, how are mum and Suzuna in the safe house?"

"You're mum had an asthma attack last night, but she was given treatment immediately," he said. "Miss Suzuna is caring for her well. Mr. Takumi made sure you had nothing to worry about."

I straightened myself on my seat, choosing the right moment to ask. "Your family's in a safe house?"

"For safety measures, yes," she said. "It was Mr. Takiyumi's idea."

"Mr. Takiyumi – you mean Takiyumi Hiro?"

"He's the guy whom you and Yukimura saw us leave Seika with last week."

"I was sure of that much…" I scratched my ear for the sake of having something to do with my hands. "So why are they protecting your family?"

"Because of men like Miss Ayuzawa's father." Mr. Park scowled at me through the rear-view mirror. "You can't wait 'till we reach our destination, boy?"

Misaki smiled at me in apology. "What he means is you should wait so we can explain it as a whole."

But I had waited the whole week. My brain was going on overdrive with anticipation. "Sure, no problem." I said.

Thirty-seven minutes of roaming the streets of Tokyo, the van entered an alley and camouflaged in the darkness. Orange light swamped my vision as soon as Mr. Park opened the door for us. He offered Misaki a hand to evade the mud puddle directly below the steps, and ordered me to shut the door once I was out.

I jumped and skipped the puddle by mere centimeters and did as I was told.

A metal door clamored open, and Mr. Park hurried us inside.

"Misaki, where are you?"

"I'm right here."

"I can't see you."

"It's so dark, Mr. Park. Can somebody switch on the lights?"

A series of fluorescent lights flickered into life, and a vicinity of black and white greeted my sight. I jumped back upon seeing the gigantic portrait of a human face hanging on the brick wall beside me. I dared step into the light, and when I did, I could not decide what to admire first.

Misaki motioned me over to the black, leather couch in the center of the room. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Mr. Park bolted the door behind us and muttered something in his walky-talky.

"We have refreshments," Misaki knelt in front of a mini fridge. "You look like you'll need one. Cold tea, Sprite, Coke or plain juice? They have them in all flavors. Just name it."

I dug my hands in my pockets as I scanned the abstract paintings on the walls. "Where's Takumi?"

She took out a bottle of water and a can of Coke. "They'll be here any minute. Mr. Park relayed to me earlier that they received a message saying Nanami needed to be checked in the hospital. She told you by accident, didn't she?"

"Unless you're referring to the fire, I understand why she needs to be in the hospital."

"She said you helped her get her shoe unstuck," Misaki said, tossing me the can of Coke. "She admitted that Nanami has leukemia in order to get you to stop suspecting her."

The temperature of the can dropped some more, and the cold consumed my whole hand. "She really has leukemia?"

"She recovered from it a year ago, but it always has the tendency of reappearing."

"I-I-I didn't know! I swear I thought she was just fooling me to escape my scrutiny!"

Misaki twisted the cap of her bottle, frowning. "I'm worried about her too. Come Tuesday, she'll be flying to America to meet with her doctors again, because her uncle is half American and he works in one of the best hospitals in the United States. I don't think she's been under the sun for an entire month."

"Wait," I said. "Are we talking about Toya Nanami?"

"Yes, we're talking about Toya Nanami."

"Toya Nanami is Takumi's girlfriend, correct? Or _pretend_ girlfriend…?"

"Oh!" Misaki exclaimed, twisting the cap back onto the bottle and putting it on the glass table. "I got you confused, didn't I? Part of the whole plan is to assume different identities to fulfill certain roles. The Toya Nanami you know is not really Toya Nanami…I was speaking of the _real_ Toya Nanami – the one with leukemia."

"They've arrived." Mr. Park unbolted the other metal door ahead, left of the billiards table.

Another man in black suit entered and waved behind him.

Takumi Usui emerged from the gloom, and his eyes locked on Misaki. He exhaled audibly, dropping his arm from the dressing across his neck. "Finally," he said. "You should have gotten here much earlier, Misaki. Oh, hello, Kanou."

"Hi?" I said.

Toya Nanami appeared. She gave her bag to Mr. Park and showed him her elbow wrapped in roller bandage. She saw me, and her words were cut short. "We're telling him?" she asked Takumi.

"We have to." He stood in front of me, a light smirk playing on his lips. "We're keeping Kanou here until we're finished, just to make sure he doesn't disturb our plans."

I scowled at him even though I was fully aware his accusation was justified. I tipped my head to the side to see Nanami. "So who are you, really, if you're not Toya Nanami?"

"I see you've begun to tell him, Misa." Takumi stole my Coke and flipped the oval metal in order to open it. "Sit down, Kanou. All of us are exhausted, as is obvious. We still have more company coming."

"He's such a troublemaker, isn't he?" Nanami plopped on one of the armchairs. "How did you become friends with him again, Ayuzawa?"

"He was creating trouble," Takumi answered.

"It must be in your nature then, Kanou."

"All right, all right," Misaki patted the space beside her, indicating me to sit there . "Stop bullying him. He was just worried for me."

Takumi scoffed and sat on my place beside Misaki. Then again, he had more right to it than I.

"Do sit," he said. "This is to show my gratitude for saving my Misaki earlier in the fire. You're a good man, Kanou."

I glanced at Misaki, who sank comfortably beside Takumi. She had never looked so relaxed.

"Who else are we waiting for?"

Nanami dropped her wit first and bounced to her feet. Takumi and Ayuzawa followed, turning towards the open door ahead.

The man in glasses stepped inside accompanied by a blonde lady dressed in pink. He regarded the people in the room with a nod, and he said to me, "Welcome, Mr. Sotaro! Have you all began? No? Let's begin by enlightening our new friend here, and then I'll brief you of the plan that will be in execution on Monday and Tuesday." He walked to me and stretched out his hand for me to shake. "Good day. I'm Takiyumi Hiro, cousin to Takumi Usui, your schoolmate. The beautiful young lady you've been introduced to as Toya Nanami is actually the apprentice actress of my sister."

Nanami snapped her fingers to call my attention. "I'm the real Alia Castilio."

"Ah! I see you are flabbergasted because Alia Castilio was supposedly the girl who is infatuated with you, eh?" Mr. Takiyumi stood aside and motioned to the blond lady in pink who was staring at me with a rather blank expression. "Mr. Sotaro, meet my younger and very much beloved sister who was co-mastermind to this plot: Takiyumi Mariya – a stage actress. She attended Seika High and befriended you using the name-"

"Alia Castilio," I breathed, finishing the revelation for him.

She glided towards me, her heels rapping the floorboard in subtle clicks, and she took my hand and shook it. "Hello, Kanou. I'm glad to finally meet you as myself."

I yanked my hand from hers. "W-w-why? Ali – I mean – Mariya? What the hell is going on here?"

She cleared her throat, racing her brother to the explanation. "Alia Castilio is the daughter of a Filipino consulate and a Japanese lady. She became my apprentice at a tender age, and I had to assume her humble identity to fit into Seika High without question. The real Ali took the identity of an ill heiress – Toya Nanami – to fit the profile of Takumi Usui's girlfriend, and all of this was done to lure some bad men from thinking Ayuzawa Misaki is, in any way, related to Usui."

My feet slipped back to distance myself from her. I folded my arms behind my head and skimmed the faces in the room, recalling their proper names as best I could. "And your job is?" I said to Mariya. "What? To-to make sure I don't intervene? To make sure I stay out of their way?"

"To watch over them," she said, calmly. "To tie up loose ends…like you, Mr. Sotaro."

_Kanou_, I wanted to tell her.

You used to call me Kanou.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter Thirteen**

"This whole scheme began only three days before you first met me last week – Friday, was it? – when Mariya and I personally came to Seika to fetch Usui and Miss Ayuzawa. But you wouldn't have seen my sister, because I forced her to remain in the car." Mr. Takiyumi Hiro breathed onto the lenses of his eyeglasses and wiped them with his handkerchief. He continued, "You see, Mariya and I were favorites of Usui's grandmother, hence we were always invited to their domicile in the countryside during our younger years. Usui was stoic as a child, but he was a magnanimous company to me. With Mariya? Not much so, because he was infatuated by her half his life and therefore spent his days shying from her…but see now, he had moved on to a girl that suits him – and one that does not risk incest." He laughed.

Takumi pinched his brows, and urged him to move on. Ayuzawa laughed along, although hers was forced.

"I hadn't seen this dear cousin of mine for ages, so when he called me for help regarding a serious matter concerning Miss Ayuzawa, I had no choice but to agree. We took them to this very hideout I had prepared as soon as I landed in Tokyo, and we sketched the events that would take place this week."

"Excuse me," I said. My voice shrank in the presence of these people. I avoided looking at them. "But what, exactly, are you helping Misaki for?"

"Should I?" He asked Misaki, but obliged himself to the explanation even before she could respond. "I should. Mr. Ayuzawa – her father – left his family with a tremendous debt which burdened them throughout their growing years. Miss Ayuzawa and her mother had managed to pay off half the debt to their debtors last year, and their debtors, seeing that they had no more means to comply with the original amount, agreed to accept whatever they could offer and be done with them."

"However, news reached them that Miss Ayuzawa was involved with Takumi Usui, and it was very unfortunate that they knew of his origins, thus using him as a reason to threaten Miss Ayuzawa's family into filling in the amount of the debt they had not paid."

Takumi lifted his hand, cutting me short of what I had only begun to say. "You don't have to ask. But remember that the only reason I'm telling you is because it's necessary so you can understand what's happening, and it's all for Misaki's sake. Spread a word about my identity and you'll answer to people much worse than your kidnappers."

He went on to detail the important facts of his birth, like the citizenship of his father and his mother, their illicit affair, and the families that conspired to keep his existence hidden from public knowledge. Walker, he said, was the name of his paternal family, and they shipped him to his maternal grandmother for safekeeping.

Takumi gave way to no humiliation during his narrative. I heard something more akin to boredom that sometimes verged on irritation, but he told his whole story so calmly a bystander would have thought he was only gossiping about a foreign TV drama.

"They're rich," he went on to emphasize. "My relationship with Misaki made them think that if they pressured her enough, she could leech money from me, and I would comply out of love."

Misaki battled her thumbs. "I only came to Usui with the truth of the situation after Suzuna came home from school with a cut across her arm. She said a man followed her home, and while she was crossing the street, he bumped her. Suddenly she was bleeding, and she panicked so she went home immediately to be treated by mum. The cut was thorough…like he used a knife on her. I couldn't take it anymore. Those men wouldn't be convinced no matter how good my story was that I don't know Usui."

Takumi winced. "It wasn't _that_ good, prez…"

"Shut up!"

Nanami – whose real name was Ali, carried on with the design of their plot. "Miss Mariya has been my mentor for years. After my mum decided to settle back here in Japan, I enrolled to acting school, and she recruited me. One night, Miss Mariya came to me with this job that will span nine days, in which I had to assume the role of a Japanese heiress that had just been cleared of leukemia a year ago, Toya Nanami. It was easy to fool the men who are after Ayuzawa, because no one besides immediate family has ever seen Nanami. She's in England right now, receiving home-schooling. We chose her identity so as not to further aggravate Takumi's grandfather, Mr. Walker, since he started attending Seika. Certainly, and with no offense due you, Ayuzawa, Mr. Walker would not approve of Takumi dating a girl of her stature with outstanding debts to an infamous name such as the Omaro Enterprise."

"Omaro Enterprise?"

"Owned by Enrique Omaro, a Spanish cotton tycoon," said Mr. Takiyumi. "Mr. Ayuzawa was Mr. Omaro's player in some underground poker club. At first, he was winning Mr. Omaro a reputation and good fortune, but he got so addicted to gambling that he bet a large sum of Mr. Omaro's money and lost….then he ran away."

Misaki only bowed her head. If we were alone, I would console her that she wasn't the only one left behind because of money. There were plenty of us in the world, and right now, I believed God destined for us to be friends for the simple purpose of understanding.

I pointed at Ali, not wanting to mention names in fear that I would provoke Mariya to speak. "You disguised yourself to look exactly like Misaki and pretended to be Takumi's girlfriend to back Misaki's story that she isn't involved with him."

"Also to direct all evidence of Omaro towards me," she said. "They had photographs and such of Takumi and Ayuzawa together, so I had to mimic her appearance and make them believe it was me all along. Once they know who I am – at least, who I'm pretending to be – they'd think twice about coming after Takumi or stirring Ayuzawa to hassle us with their threats. The Toya family are known for being bigots and incessantly livid. They wouldn't have touched me to confirm my relationship with Takumi and vice versa."

"Explaining why they kidnapped me on your behalf."

"Also explaining why," she countered, "Mr. Takiyumi and I, pretending to have connived against Omaro's men on the grounds of harming Takumi's friend, negotiated your safe release. Thanks to your denying any form of friendship to Takumi, they almost saw behind our act."

"I was afraid for my father," I said. "Besides, I also supported your claim that you are – or Toya Nanami – is his girlfriend."

"You said she has green eyes," Mariya spoke at last.

"How was I supposed to know what I should say?"

She raised her hands in surrender. "The odds are with us, rest assured. I was only pointing out a tiny hole."

"You also mentioned she wore contacts," Mr. Takiyumi said, "which still gave us a good cover for that hole. Thank you, Mr. Sotaro. Have we enlightened you enough, or do you still need some things to be clarified?"

Nothing except the reason Mariya had to pretend to be infatuated with me. "None," I said.

Misaki snapped out of her silent stupor. "Mr. Takiyumi, how about the maid café? When will they be able to re-open?"

"Once we finish our business with the Omaros, Miss Ayuzawa. We're compensating your co-workers' wages."

Takumi offered her the bottled water again. "We needed to have reason to shut it down since your story says that because the café was in decline, you offered that the manager sold it to Nanami, Nanami bought it, and Nanami commissioned you enough to pay the remaining half of your debt. It was compulsory in our part to shut it down to lead Omaro away from Satsuki and the gang."

"I _know_." Misaki took a swig of the water and scowled at me, her face flushed. "Speaking of which, how did _you_ know about the maid café, Kanou?"

I couldn't think of a lie fast enough. "Aoi came to me this morning. He was really upset about the Maid Café shutting down. He was even crying, so you better talk to him too, Misaki."

"We're not involving any more strangers," Takumi decided. "Not a little boy, especially. We'll handle him later."

A phone buzzed, and Misaki apologized for forgetting to turn it off. "It must be Suzuna," she said. Three pressed keys and pause later, she sucked in a breath and flipped it for Takumi to see. "Omaro wants to get the money tomorrow."

"An impatient man, isn't he?" Tamaki handed the phone to Mr. Takiyumi. "Shall we go for it? Delaying the payment until Tuesday may cause further suspicion on our part. Misaki has no reason to wait until Tuesday."

"They're trying to catch us off-guard, Hiro." Mariya glimpsed at the message as she rounded the couch towards the mini fridge. She kicked off her heels and bent down to choose her refreshment. "Let's comply with them, only we send Ali with her for Ayuzawa's safety."

The cold steam blew at her face, twirling her blond locks on her shoulders. She looked so different from when I met her as Alia Castilio, the black haired seventeen-year old transfer student who made me bento, shared her burnt squid, pressed icepack on my cheek, woke me on the playground's slide…This woman was twenty-two years old and blonde.

She wasn't wholly Japanese.

"I'm game with Mariya's plan," Ali said. "They wouldn't want to mess with the Toyas, and Mr. Takiyumi will accompany me, correct?"

"Yes, of course I will. I wouldn't let young people like you face bad men on your own."

Mariya selected a can of pineapple juice and brought it close to her face for inspection. "Bring Mr. Sotaro along to pretend to be Ayuzawa's boyfriend. It would justify his punching Takumi and meddling with her business. Off topic, did you know that they manufacture these pineapple juices with their pulps? Whoever thought of this is a genius! Try one of these, Ali."

Ali fished for one inside the fridge.

Mr. Takiyumi placed his hands on his knees and sighed audibly. "I'll be going out to prepare the money, then. The rest of you, children rest. The school fire nearly burned you, important people, to charred. That would have upset Omaro, which would have been a good laugh for me, but, of course, I'm not tolerating the thought that you were better off dead."

"Shut up, Hiro." Mariya smiled at Ayuzawa. "Forgive my brother. His humor cannot be shared outside the race of the sadist specie."

"I'm happy to have you back, sister." He kissed her forehead and bid us all farewell.

Ali snuck three bags of potato chips out of a cabinet and announced she would be retiring to her room to rest. Misaki asked if her elbow was sprained. Ali laughed her off and said it was a simple muscle strain that would heal before the following week ended.

Takumi suggested Misaki rest in one of the rooms as well, which only led to their usual bicker that attributed mostly to her stubbornness. He conceded to a walk around the vicinity to talk the whole thing through, and she finally stood from the couch.

"Will you be fine here, Kanou?" She asked as she was leaving.

I flicked my eyes up at her, and then at Takumi. "I'm guessing I won't be able to come home to dad tonight?"

"Hiro will be taking care of that," Takumi said. "Sorry, Kanou."

"Nah, I got myself into this."

"You're right." He shrugged, and they went off. Misaki, as they were stepping out the door, looked back and mouthed a 'thank you'.

To my surprise, Mr. Park closed the door from outside, leaving the room also.

I stiffened where I sat. My eyeballs rolled sideways on their sockets to see my only companion lean on the backrest of the couch, and remained unmoving afterwards.

The silence stretched from my right ear to my left. I undid the first button of my tunic in order to breathe more freely.

Mariya shuddered, forcing me to ask if she was all right.

"Your gadgets, I have them." She walked to the closet beside the billiards table. "I snuck them out your bag when no one was looking in order to fool the police officers. I hope you don't mind." Setting a clear bag containing my personal effects on top of the billiard table, she shrugged and motioned for me to get it myself.

I groaned as I rose to my feet. I hoped that she couldn't hear my heart thudding irregularly in my chest while I approached. Annoyance could be hidden on the surface, but the body would react to it in any other way if only to vent.

"It's all here…" I fingered my red notebook away to see my music player. Not even a scratch. Great.

Mariya hugged her elbows. "Listen, Kanou,"

"If you're going to talk about…anything at all," I hoisted the bag off the table. "Drop it. You've fooled me enough once. Don't think I can trust you now."

"I was doing it for Ayuzawa, and believe it or not for Sa-"

I turned around and walked back to the couch, busying my hands with plugging my earphones on the music player and sorting out my albums. My movements slowed, and I looked at her again.

She watched me.

"I'm only asking out of pure curiosity and not to start another futile conversation – was it all for show?" I said. "The whole time you were with Yukimura and I…was it just one of your acts? You are good at acting, by the way."

She tiptoed and heaved herself up to sit on the table's ledge. Her dress shuffled with every sway of her legs. "You want honesty from me? I don't know. I never attended high school, nor have I gained friends outside the circle my family allows me to twirl in….so I don't know. I wish I do, Mr. Sotaro."

"Kanou," I corrected.

"What?"

"Nevermind."


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter Fourteen**

Monday – this was the day.

Ali, whom I still sometimes addressed as Nanami, dusted the collars of my blazer and stepped back to inspect my outfit. She flipped up her forefinger and made a circling motion. I twirled two times to her satisfaction.

"Ah, I know what's wrong." She shook her head and pointed at my face. "Did you order your eyeglasses from an online Star Wars store? Star Trek? Either of the two, right? Do you realize how that makes you look like an alien? An alien sporting space goggles?"

"Wow," I said with as much enthusiasm I could feign. "You've just insulted me twice as more this morning as I had ever been my entire life."

"Surprise," she gasped. "Take out your alien goggles. I'll lend you one of my contacts."

I sat on the edge of the bed and watched her search inside her bags. She had knocked on my door early this morning and declared she was dressing me for the occasion and walked out, giving me no time to object.

The awkwardness of my presence here was made up by the beauty of the vicinity. Who would have guessed a broken down old building on the outside was a modern hotel luxury inside? The room they assigned to me, for instance, contained every gadget I wished to accumulate in this lifetime but never would. The fifty-inches flat-screen TV, the surround-sound speakers, the latest Macintosh laptop, a variety of earphones to choose from, the sensory lighting system, the pressure pads that set off the shower, the voice activated air conditioner…circumstances aside, this was the best time of my life.

"It's true that you have a collection of contact lenses, huh?"

"I'm an actress – not a liar."

"You had to lie to polish your acting."

She tipped her head side to side, weighing my statement in her head but giving no response. Ali opened a silver casing, revealing a pair of clear lenses. "Put these on. You've got nice, violet eyes. People ought to see that."

I stared at the lenses on my palm.

Ali clapped her hands. "Go on! We haven't all day."

"You studied in the Philippines, then in Singapore, then in Korea, and then here?" I recalled.

She sighed and pulled a stool to sit on. "You're being sentimental, you know that, Kanou? What? Did you fall for Miss Mariya's act that she's infatuated with you? I won't blame you – she's the best actress I've ever met."

"Mm," I tipped my head back, pulled down the skin below my left eye, and slipped on the contact lens. I blinked in order for it to slide into place. "I didn't…_fall _ for her. I just can't believe someone can twist facts and spurt them like they're their own."

"They were raised that way – Miss Mariya and Mr. Hiro."

"Raised in what way?"

"To lie," she murmured, shrugging. "To lie to please people they have to please. Wealthy families like theirs survive by putting on their best masks. Miss Mariya's clever; she realized she was good at it, started an acting career, made money, and broke off from that life. So did Mr. Hiro."

I slipped the lens onto my right eye. I blinked. The world vivified.

"Stop being a jerk to her, Kanou," Ali said.

"A jerk?"

"You're mad at her, but it's not justified because all she did was save you from bigger trouble."

"That's not your call, Nana-Ali."

"Her boyfriend is in England, stuck in a comatose for six months all ready." She tucked the silver casing in my pocket with a snap. "She should be spending these days with Sabaru before they take off his life-support – not watching over an ungrateful high school prick like you."

I didn't hear the last things she said; in fact, I only heard three words: England, Saburo, and comatose.

I hadn't the courage to ask any further.

Misaki and I sat abreast inside the same, faded green van with Mr. Park. He resumed his civilian disguise of a driver's uniform consisting of a white, long sleeved tunic and black slacks.

Everybody kept silent.

Misaki tapped her fingers against the briefcase on her lap.

"Do you want to go over the plan?" I whispered to her.

She shook her head, adding in a non-coherent manner that she was A-okay.

I turned on my seat to see the limousine tailing us two cars away. "The traffic is heavy today, eh? Do you think Ali and Mr. Takiyumi's convoy might lose us?"

"I don't think so…"

"Their bodyguards are experts in this field," said Mr. Park. He glimpsed me through the rear-view mirror the same way he did yesterday – blankly. "You should worry more about your act, Mr. Sotaro."

"Mr. Takiyumi said it was okay for me to keep my mouth shut unless necessary."

"If they shoot at Miss Ayuzawa, you don't need your mouth – you take the bullet. Are we clear?"

"They're going to shoot me?" Misaki squeaked, her eyelids scrolling up, far from its earlier droop.

Mr. Park chuckled. "No, Miss Ayuzawa. I was just scaring your friend."

"That's not funny!"

"Let it go, Misaki. I'd have no choice but to do just that, anyway."

Seriously, though, it wasn't funny. I would jump in front of her to take around two bullets, so long as I wouldn't die. A litany of prayer reeled in my head just in case I was caught in a crossfire.

Please, God, let me live a little longer.

The van steered right on the intersection, and we drove in zigzag from here onwards, delving deeper into the deserted regions of Tokyo. Nudging her elbow, I asked, "Where will Takumi be this whole time?"

Misaki scratched her neck. Her anxiety was morphing into frustration. "Out of our way. It won't be healthy to give Mr. Omaro a hint that he's got a hand in all these. Usui said so yesterday. He'll meet us afterwards. Miss Mariya is with him, taking the role of Toya Nanami to give full impact to our ambush."

"Won't they see the difference?"

She fanned herself with her hands. "Ali is Miss Mariya's stage-double. Whatever disguise Ali can pull off, Miss Mariya can pull off better. I have faith in her. She can do it."

"Hey." I smiled my best at her. "You can pull this off too. You're fantastic at scaring off bad guys."

Misaki found the courage to smile back. She embraced the briefcase. "I hope so."

The van swerved, and I hit the window, catching Misaki's shoulder before she plunged past me and hit the window too. Mr. Park cursed and stepped on the breaks.

"Whoa!" Stretching my arm and leg forward, I saved the two of us from being tossed off our chair. My limbs absorbed the shock, and after a moment of awkward silence, Misaki uncurled from within my arm.

The heat of her face radiated to my blazer, stinging my skin despite my layers of clothing. "What happened?"

I turned to Mr. Park for an answer.

He was still, watching as men in black suits exited their BMWs.

"They've lured us into an abandoned warehouse," he hissed.

I switched places with Misaki so I was the one nearest the door. "Stay calm," I told her. "Remember what Mr. Takiyumi said: don't let them know you're afraid. Hey, breathe."

She inhaled and exhaled as instructed, and crimson receded from her face. "Do they have guns?"

"They sure do," Mr. Park said. He flicked back his brown jacket, revealing to us his holster. "Mine is better. Half of these only know how to point and pull triggers. I've been aiming since I was twelve."

"That's good." I nodded in agreement, just to console both of us. Mr. Park aged around forty-eight to fifty-five. He'd have enough years spent on practice for the real deal, and _this_ was the real deal.

A fourth car screeched into a halt to form a semi-circle around our van. Bald men in heavily tinted sunglasses inspected our humble vehicle from where they stood, and while their hands were in front of them, the rational side of my consciousness warned me that they would pull out their weapons as soon as I was in sight.

After all, hadn't they intended to kill me before?

"Children, get out of the car with poise," he ordered, calmly. "Mr. Sotaro, you're her boyfriend - don't forget."

"Yes, sir."

She gripped my hand. A variety of expressions passed her face before settling for an awkward smirk. "Kanou, be strong!"

"You too, Misaki."

I unlocked the door, clutched the handle, prayed a short prayer, and swung it open with all my might.

All baldheads snapped to our direction. My feet felt for the steps while my hand kept on tugging at Misaki's hand to make sure she wouldn't let go. By keeping my eyes on them and pretending I was dissecting the motive behind their semi-circle formation, I would be channeling confidence to them. I tripped on my own shoe, landed on the ground half-crouched, jolted my body upright and regained myself, earning chortles from our adversaries.

Misaki murmured that it was fine and things were going smoothly. She stood beside me with her shoulders rolled back and her chin up. "I have the money!"

I nearly bolted. The volume of her voice could have shaken the entirety of Tokyo.

She presented the briefcase. "Come get it and leave us alone!"

The heads turned to one another, tacitly consulting, and the tallest bald of all nodded. He opened the passenger's door of the third car. One short leg appeared, exposing black, leather shoes with tiny heels. Another leg went down, and the rest of him appeared.

Seeing him, I felt as though the 'rest of him' was lacking.

Even Misaki dropped her arm to her side along with the suitcase, gawking.

An imp with side-swept, red hair wobbled towards us. He flattened his white-striped suit over his belly – a suit the size I would have worn had I been obliged to attend an immediate family's funeral at three years old. Suddenly, I was thinking of the movie 'Austin Powers'. My dad made me watch that.

His oblong eyes poked from its sockets in order to see us, tall people. "You are Miss Ayuzawa Misaki, correct? I'm Enrique Omaro Jr." He bobbed his up and down my stature. "And this clumsy man cannot be a friend posing as a bodyguard. Surely, a woman who was voted student council president twice is too smart to hire this klutz."

The baldheads sniggered. Misaki frowned and raised our entwined hands. "Who are you calling a bodyguard and a klutz? This man is my boyfriend!"

The sniggers echoed throughout the warehouse.

"_This guy_?" The imp rubbed his belly. "Boyfriend to you? He was a pussy the whole duration of his captivity in the hands of my men!"

Misaki started forward to assault him, probably forgetting our odds weren't favorable, and I pulled her back with one sharp tow. She stumbled back beside me with a protest on her lips, but I beat her to it. "You're here to settle this, not make this worse."

"They're insulting you!"

"Give me the briefcase."

"Enough with the comedy!" The imp flailed his arms to get his men to stop gurgling. "Give me my damn money and get out of my sight, paupers!"

I squeezed Misaki's hand, begging for trust, begging for acknowledgement. I leaned my face close to hers. She didn't pull back.

"Give me the briefcase."

"Mr. Park should be contacting Mr. Takiyumi by now."

"They'll bring out their guns if back-up arrives."

"We have a _plan_, Kanou."

"I'm going to have to count," declared Omaro junior.

Misaki snarled. "If you're scared, then go back to the van. I can do this alone."

"This one time, please admit you can't do this all by yourself," I said. "I'm not like your father; I won't claim the title of 'friend' and stand behind you while you take the blows for me. Life doesn't work that way. You've got to learn to put your life in somebody else's hand once in a while and trust that they won't crush it. Trust me that I won't, Misaki."

"But-"

"If they know you're being protected by Mr. Takiyumi, they might just see you as a worthy hostage come the time they need more money."

While sinking into the depths of my gaze, she inched the briefcase to me. I took it, and she released the handle with a sigh.

"Thank you," I said, our hands slowly parting as I marched forward.

The imp pouted and laughed again. "Here comes the boyfriend! _Oooh, scary_!"

I knelt on one knee, hunkered lower to see his face, and dropped the briefcase between us. He reached for it. I said, "Wait."

He stopped and arched his eyebrow at me.

The baldheads reached for their guns.

I swallowed. There was no other choice but to proceed with my plan. "Look closely into my eyes."

Those two oblong pools of grey softened the longer they looked.

"That's right, listen to my voice…you're listening very well…that's good…you're not in a trance…you're just talking to an old friend you always heed the advice of…good, good, now tell your bodyguards to take ten steps back or else you'll fire them."

His eyelids drooped. "Ten steps away from us, boys! Ten steps away or I'll fire you! Now!"

The baldheads turned to consult each other again, still holding their guns in their holsters. I advised the imp to repeat his orders with more threats, and now the baldheads moved behind their cars.

Far enough from earshot, I thought. "Now, little guy, are you still listening?"

He nodded. His hair flapped on his forehead.

"Very good, little guy," I cooed. "This is what will happen next: you will take the briefcase without question, walk back to your car, order half of your men to drive you as far as Hokkaido, find you the nearest fountain, and all of you will take a leek there three times. The other half of your men will go back to your office and your house, find all the records containing the name' Ayuzawa' and burn it within one hour, or else you will chase them with a torch. You will leave Ayuzawa Misaki alone – her and her family – forever. Lastly, when I pat you on the shoulder and stand, you will beg for forgiveness for insulting me, and you will say I am such a brave, brave man. Now, repeat everything I told you."

The imp, drowned deep into the waters of my voice, repeated everything I said in the exact same wording. I grinned, patted his shoulder, and stood.

"Boyfriend of Miss Ayuzawa," he mumbled, "Will you please forgive me for insulting you?"

Some of the baldheads removed their sunglasses and shook their heads. I suppressed the urge to tell them that even if they shoot themselves, they were not snapping out of this, because this was anything but a dream.

I touched my chin and put on a thoughtful face.

"Please?" The imp sniveled.

"Okay, whatever," I said. "We're done here, aren't we?"

"You're such a brave, brave man." He heaved the briefcase into his arms and wobbled back to his comrades. The tallest bald carried him inside the car, throwing me glares while so doing.

Mr. Park and Misaki jogged towards me. Together, we watched the men get inside their vehicles and drive off in single file.

Moments after they were gone, neither of the two could still muster nothing to say.

Mr. Park's radio bustled. He jerked, startled, and answered it. "Yes, boss, yes, we're fine. We're fine, really. I didn't call you in because…well…" he scoffed at me. "Everything's been taken care of. They just left with the money, boss. No one was harmed."

I wiped my brow with my hand and beamed at Misaki. "I think it's over."

She blinked at me, and a smile burst on her face. "One last thing." She uncurled my fist, scooped an invisible object up, and pressed it on her chest. "Thanks for not crushing it."


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Author's Note: **I forgot to note that the last chapter was in answer, and dedicated to, Queen-chii, who had given me the cutest PM I have yet to receive. I'm sorry I cannot add more fluff between Kanou and Misaki, seeing as I never intended to write this mystery with the involvement of romance between those two. I like sticking to the Author's original concept of the relationship between the characters, which you might find boring, but I don't. I really love tweaking the plots I love and adding some sort of realism. We're halfway, people! Thanks for everyone who has been supporting this! God bless! I hope you enjoy this two-week mystery!

**Chapter Fifteen**

"You hypnotized him?" Ali gawked, giggled, and turned to Mr. Takiyumi for a reaction.

At that moment, Takumi burst from the metal door, panting, and scanned the room for Misaki and I. He grinned. Misaki grinned back. He walked straight to her and wrapped his arms around her. Although she blushed, she simply buried her face on his shoulder to hide it. Her body shook; it was most probably adrenaline wearing off, and he was helping her hide it.

No more pulling away. No more denying.

We were back to normal, I thought.

I sank into the couch and threw myself back with a sigh. "It was mostly instinct and adrenaline. I really didn't want to be shot."

Mr. Park entered our circle, smirking and nodding at me. "I've got a part in that, I guess. I scared him beforehand."

"I heard about that." Takumi kept a hold of Misaki's arm as he stretched his hand towards me. "Good job, Kanou. Who would have thought your skills at hypnotism, when used aside from sabotaging the student council, could save us all?"

I hit our fingers together. Shaking hands was too formal. I should have asked for payment. "You're not letting that go, are you?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "You cost Misaki and I a whole night's sleep."

Mr. Takiyumi released his breath and folded his arms against his chest. "I should hire you once you're out of school. I wouldn't have guessed it was possible to end that ordeal without using mine or the Toya's name. We should celebrate in honor of our success! What do all of you say? Shall we head to my house for a feast? I'll call our butler right away to prepare our best menu."

"Mother and Suzuna," Misaki interjected. "When can I see them?"

"They're on their way here." Mr. Takiyumi smiled. "We'll invite them over to join us; a little treat for coping with the safety procedures we've put them through for the whole week."

Mr. Park slipped off his brown jacket. "I can finally get out of these clothes and back to my uniform."

"Where's Miss Mariya?" Ali asked Takumi.

Delight drifted from his visage, and he lowered his voice considerably. "She's in a plane flying back to England. We were in a restaurant, staying under the watch of Omaro's men as planned, when she received a call that Saburo's life-support was going to be removed tomorrow. His parents have signed the papers consenting the hospital to…let him go."

Mr. Takiyumi took out his phone and dialed a number. "That explains her earlier call. Excuse me, children. I will have to make sure somebody takes care of her there." He put his phone beside his ear and murmured in English as he walked out the room.

My mind fluttered back to my conversation with Ali this morning.

England, Saburo, and comatose.

I couldn't bring myself to ask for his full name in fear that it was the same name I had been dreading to hear. Impossible! How many Saburo could there be in the world that lived in England? A lot of wealthy Japanese families invested in foreign countries. A lot of men were named Saburo.

Memories of him lapsed my present reality, ending in his last summer with me in Tokyo. Sugiyama's Ice House was never lacking in customer. Fortunately for us, the owner, Mr. Sugiyama Joji, liked children, and so reserved a booth especially for us.

I had ordered vanilla ice-cream on a white sugar cone, while he ordered his usual milk shake.

"Mum's pregnant," he had said.

"Really? How big is her belly?"

Saburo moved his hand far from his stomach. "Scary big, Kanou. It's a boy. I told her to choose a better name, not like mine. Have I told you that she chose mine from the top ten list of most common names in Japan? Really bad move. She made me into an average commoner."

Someone shook me. The memory passed, and I was back in this room.

Misaki knelt before me. "Kanou, are you okay? You're crying."

"What?" I sniffed and ran my sleeves over my face. "No, I'm not!"

Ali asked Mr. Park to fetch me lunch. "You must have been terribly frightened during your encounter with Mr. Omaro Jr. to be crying now. Eat up when your food arrives. You'll feel better."

From the other end of the room, holding a can of Mariya's favorite pineapple juice to his lips, Takumi frowned at me.

I sniffed and looked down at my feet.

Did he know?

* * *

Come evening, I found myself dawdling inside Azure Mansions, shrinking in the presence of the wealthy bastards taking residency here.

Ali met me at the lounge across from the function room. She had reverted back to her brunette and green eyes, which hindered me from recognizing her. I would never admit how I kept looking back at her approaching figure when I thought she was the most dashing stranger here, especially since her slender body's clad in a yellow cocktail dress. Her heels rapped the marble floor, gaining her the attention of all male eyes within a one-mile radius.

Truly, even I had to clench my jaws to keep it from dropping, chiefly upon realizing this woman was Ali, and to be caught gawking would only boost her unhealthy ego.

She stopped in front of me and raised her perfectly trimmed eyebrows. "So you're just going to sit there and I'm just going to stand here? Is that it?"

I leapt to my feet, nearly colliding with her. She doubled back.

"Sorry." I swallowed.

Ali beamed at my appearance. "You fit in the tuxedo I lent you! Turn around!"

"Don't treat me like your doll in public," I murmured.

She clapped her hands. "Pronto."

I turned once, keeping my eyes shut to avoid the funny faces the people were making.

"Are we done? Can we go up now?"

She clasped her skirt, spread it sideways, and curtsied. "How do I look?"

"Glimmering?" I said, mostly referring to her diamond necklace. "Are we attending an auction? Are you going to be auctioned?"

She put her hands on her hips and tossed her chin up. "I'll take that as a compliment. And you, Kanou, look better without those alien goggles."

"Eyeglasses," I corrected her. "Middle-class, hardworking citizens call them eyeglasses."

"I'll give them back later." She hooked our arms together. "First, we finish dinner with Mr. Hiro."

I leaned close to her ear, careful so as not to get pricked by the spikes of her diamond earring. "Admit it – you have a crush on him."

Ali stepped on my foot. "You assuming little-!"

"If I'm assuming, then why is your face red?" I whistled a diving tune. "You're not such a great actress, are you, Nana-Ali."

She pulled me forward to the nearest elevator, keeping her head level. "You don't know how much self-control it requires to stop from breaking you."

"Liar." I smiled.

Mr. Takiyumi's home wasn't as big as I initially supposed it would be. He owned the penthouse of the Azure Mansions in Tokyo, and even then, it wasn't as lavishly furnished as everybody expected of a man of his rank.

If anything, his dwelling was warm.

Two, Vietnamese maids served us the many courses of our dinner. Mrs. Ayuzawa, Suzuna, Misaki, and I had to rip our eyes off the food from time to time in order to keep from salivating. Dressed formally as we were, it would be undignified for us to act like refugees salvaged from poverty.

In the company of these fine people, though, the comparison was justified.

Our discussions roamed about my misadventures during the week, which Ali made me spill every detail of. Misaki had to continually interject her opinion of my behavior during the period that was currently in dissection if only to avoid heading to my embarrassing theory that Takumi had impregnated her.

Takumi, understanding her efforts, turned the subject around to my little game of hypnosis, leading us back to his favorite topic: our first meeting. Much to my surprise, Mr. Takiyumi was struck in awe of my bold methods of impairing the student council.

"Weren't you at all frightened of going against Miss Ayuzawa?"

"Considered it, but fought anyway."

"Nah, he was trembling in fear," Takumi said.

Misaki laughed.

I said, "You've got to confess, Misaki, that you wouldn't have been able to survive my attacks had it not been for Takumi coming to your rescue."

This shut Takumi up. He turned to her, expectant of a confession.

She swallowed the contents of her mouth. "He only helped to keep me awake. If not for my determination, I would have fallen asleep and lost to you!"

Takumi rolled his eyes and propped his elbow on the backrest. "She's never going to acknowledge it."

"Never," I agreed.

Our discourse swayed to Mrs. Ayuzawa and Suzuna's activities while in the safe house. I wasn't listening then, because I had caught Ali staring at the empty seat beside Takumi. I presumed Mariya would have sat there had she been present at this dinner, but as it was, she had to be elsewhere.

I excused myself after finishing my dessert – a chocolate mousse cake – and told Mr. Takiyumi that I had to get home before father alerted the police again. Ali volunteered to escort me, but I said I'd rather walk.

She gave me back my eyeglasses, and I returned her contact lenses.

Takumi went down with me to the ground floor, refusing to say anything until we had passed the revolving doors.

The wind gushed from all around us. A cabbie rolled his window down and asked if I would need a ride. Takumi paid him to drive me home and mentioned my complete address.

I dismissed that little peculiarity.

"What do you want?" I finally asked.

He tugged down the knot of his red necktie. "I would like to make a request, Kanou."

"Request?" Me, of all people.

He smiled, sadly. "Do keep my relationship with Misaki a secret," he said. "She's had enough trouble just being seen with me. I can trust you with that, can't I?"

"Do you think that dwarf, Omaro, will still come after her?" The hair on my nape rose. I glanced around to see if the said dwarf was hiding behind the nearby mailbox.

"Not them. My family."

I watched this sadness of his twist into an ugly grimace. "Do we have a deal?" he said.

"I'll…I'll keep it a secret. It's a deal."

The cabbie honked at us. I slipped inside the passenger's seat. Takumi shut the door for me and peered inside. "Safe trip, and keep your nose out of other people's business."

His angst washed me with a sense of normalcy. Yes, this would do.

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

The cabbie sped off.

Trapped in the noise of steady traffic, I reveled on this – finally - solved mystery. This was the eighth day, Monday. Misaki was right when she talked to me in Seika's rooftop. Everything would go back to normal come the second week.

Seika would not be cleared and functioning until Wednesday, so I had at least one day to visit my friends at the hospital. Yukimura would have a heart attack if he ever he knew Takiyumi Mariya had been hanging out with him for an entire week.

I couldn't reveal that, though. This mystery had to be kept strictly confidential.

What of the Maid Café?

I would treat Aoi there tomorrow. Hopefully, Takumi and Misaki had indulged him with a lie fine enough for me to escape a cross-examination from that boy.

I hoped, also, that whoever that Saburo was in England, he was happier in Heaven.

The cab slowed to a halt. I rolled the window down and saw he had parked three houses away from mine. Instead of complaining, I thanked him and readied myself to leave.

"That your house over there?" The cabbie pointed further down the street. "The one swarmed with police officers?"

I jerked forward and viewed the scene from the windshield.

One of the three police cars coughed smoke, rattled, and drove off. I searched for my dad among the crowd of men, but he was not there. Neighbors tiptoed on their front yards and peered over their fences. My hand immediately went to my phone, and I dialed Takumi's number blindly.

Someone touched my arm. I screamed. Mr. Ishiguro screamed back.

Panting, I poked my head out of the open door and studied him. "Mr. Ishiguro! What's happening over there?"

My phone successfully connected to Takumi's phone. It rang. I prayed he would answer soon.

Mr. Ishiguro knelt down to take cover behind the car door. "The police arrived there moments ago to arrest your dad!"

Takumi wasn't answering his phone. I touched my forehead. "On what offense?"

"Theft, I overheard."

"Hey, hey!" The cabbie tapped the headrest of the other front seat to gain our attention. "Get out of my cab!"

"Can't you wait?" I yapped.

He pointed at my house again. "There are gigantic foreigners walking our way! They look angry! Get out! Get out! Shoo!"

Seeing them, I didn't want to get out, but I did. I told Mr. Ishiguro to return to his house and lock his doors. "Don't interfere," I begged, just before the three men surrounded me. I had managed to shove the old man away in time for him to avoid capturing their attention.

The blonde of the trio with a widow's peak seized my arm. "Mr. Sotaro, correct?"

His fluency in Japanese made me shiver. "Y-y-yes? What do you want?"

The brunette whispered to the other, more muscular brunette, and then he said, "Mr. Sotaro Kanou, we would like to ask you to enter your house with us without making a scene. Someone very important has been patiently waiting for you."

Takumi's voice echoed from my phone, which was dangling in my right hand. The blonde snatched it from me, saw the caller ID, dropped it, and stomped his heel on the screen. The glass shards pierced my courage.

"And sir," he said, "You might want to refrain from contacting Mr. Takumi Usui again."

Just like that, the mystery revived itself for the second week.

However, there was still the tiny possibility this was a different matter entirely.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Chapter Sixteen**

Everything that happened afterwards passed my consciousness in a blur. It didn't crash on me as livid as nightmares often did, which I would have preferred. Although these events, as I mentioned, crashed on me, they were subtle. They were very light. They were the epitome of a slow execution.

Some called this a mental block-out. Some, I guessed, would refer to this as evading the consequences of my actions. Had you been there, you would see I evaded nothing.

I had remained seated in dad's favorite chair in the living room, listening to the men who had been patiently waiting for me. I listened to their proposal word for word. I weighed and considered.

In the end, I signed the contract assuring my security in the job at hand, and said, "That's all I have to do?"

The old man had only puffed out grey clouds of smoke from his pipe with a slow nod. "That's all you have to do, and your father is free."

The blond foreigner had walked around our humble coffee table to give me the small, plastic bag. I did, remember, receiving it with trembling fingers and letting it slide down to my palm. The powder eroded from its mountain and leveled into a plateau.

They looked so harmless.

The old man with his bodyguards left.

Monday night left.

Tuesday left.

Wednesday arrived.

School day.

I dropped by the precinct where they were holding my father before I headed straight to Seika High. I got there before visiting hours, which I did on purpose, and wrote a note to be handed to him later that day.

On my best script, and on his favorite peppermint stationary, I wrote: dad, I'm getting you out of here today. Signed; your son. P.S. I love you, dad, and I don't care if the rest of the world will hate me for this.

Author's Note: The final chapter for this year! The second week of the mystery will be posted on 2013, and I estimate this fic will officially be completed by February. Plenty of thanks to the supporters of this fiction! I still can't believe so many of you like this, especially with it being a centric on a secondary character.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to everyone, and I hope we do not forget that Christmas is not about receiving, but giving, and it's not about gaining happiness through material wealth and possessions, but about the birth of THE KING in a lowly manger to save sinners like us. Let us rethink our values this Christmas. Thank you, Jesus, for thinking us worthy of Your birth, Your death, and Your resurrection. Amen.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**The Mysterious Two Weeks of Kanou**

**By Liberty SleepStorm**

**Summary:** Kanou knew Misaki and Usui were denying their feelings for one another, but when the two lovers suddenly acted like strangers, he decided he had to know why. It was not as though he had a choice – he was always at the right place at the right time.

**Author's Note: **HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here's the latest chapter, for those of you who have been demanding an explanation for the second week of this mystery, especially after I posted chapter sixteen. This is just a taste of what's truly going on, but I hope you enjoy this anyway. It's funny, though, that I had an entire playlist booming through my earphones but while I was writing the middle portion of this chapter, I cleared my playlist and looped the song Outside by Staind. The lyrics of the song depicts Kanou's emotion throughout his present predicament perfectly, and I was so glad I downloaded that song by accident.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

The scene at Seika High that Wednesday was a tidal wave of relief for the girls and a drum-roll of excitement for the boys. What fear the fire caused the former ignited a sense of passion for the latter, but for me…it was just an appetizer for the main course of this second week, and I wasn't particularly fervent about this dish.

Especially since I was serving it.

Slipping into my armchair, I bowed my head and buried my face on my bag. Nausea crippled what tiny ray of optimism remained in my life, ripped off what selflessness I could tolerate, and disabled me of any gratitude to God that at least, my classmates were safe.

None of us died. I should focus on this blessing, but instead, all my mind could tolerate was the thought that I did something that made God hate me this much.

Misago, my tormenter who named herself my personal phobia healer, approached me again after her several weeks of exposing me to feminine accessories, and she plastered a Band-Aid across my hand.

I propped my chin on my bag and stared at it. "What for?"

"To remind us how lucky we are to still be alive," she said, grabbing the nearest chair and sitting beside me. "And no serious damage was done to Seika! Have you heard of the fire that ate that school in Hokkaido? It was seriously heartbreaking! The school had no budget to rebuild it, so it had to shut down immediately after!"

"…Yeah?"

"Oh, hey, where's Yukimura?"

"He's to be released from the hospital today."

"That's good. Jin and Mei-Ling will be confined for two more days."

"…Really?"

"Are you sick?"

"Maybe."

The school bell rang. Both of us straightened up to watch our classmates pour into the room. I glimpsed my wristwatch, checked the wall clock at the back of the room, ignored Misago's inquiries about my health, and dragged my bag with me as I slogged out.

The hallways were emptying. I looked left and right, debating if I should take the long or the short way going to the principal's office.

Cool air gushed from the open window in front of me, forcing me to close my eyes and cast my head down. A thought struck me. Reaching out, I gripped the window ledge and leaned my upper body forward. The wind circled me and embraced me, seducing me to go just a little bit further…just a little bit…

I opened my eyes completely, saw the ground awaiting me beneath, and I realized a fall would kill me. Death warmed my skin. I yearned for this fragrant escape. To finish the race now would be to finish the race without friends, without enemies, and without tasting the gist of life, but finishing also promised peace.

That was all I wanted. Peace. Even drops of peace on my tongue would suffice.

My elbows caved to the weight of my body and bent outwards, planting my feet back to the floor. Wait. To die was to abandon my father midway, and I was all my father had. I promised him I would liberate him, but what was I doing tolerating suicide like this?

The school bell drifted. I slid the window shut and locked it.

Decided that I had no choice but to proceed as planned, I turned right and walked the short way leading to the principal's office. The east wing of the high school department was barred and filled with carpenters reconstructing the burnt facilities. I travelled back a couple of hallways and pursued the fire exit leading to the ground floor. My feet refused to stop despite the mental flurry of panic squeezing my gut, forcing bile up my throat. Swallowing hard, I damned the courtesy of knocking and simply entered the principal's office.

The fire from the match Mr. Ueda was holding up to his jar of incense wobbled and died upon my entrance. He frowned at it.

I sat on the chair in front of his desk.

Mr. Ueda inched around to see me. "Did you knock, son?"

"Yes, sir."

He pinched the lobe of his left ear with a thoughtful expression. "I didn't hear a thing. Must be my hearing aids acting up again. I'm sorry, what is it you want? Hasn't class started? Mr. Sotaro, isn't it?"

"One of your students is dealing drugs, sir."

He squinted his eyes and stared at me for a long time. "Excuse me?"

I sighed quietly, feigning annoyance, but the trembling of my hands portrayed my true sentiment: fear. "Mr. Ueda, Misaki Ayuzawa is dealing drugs."

"_Excuse me_?" exclaimed a man from behind me.

I propped my elbow on the desk and gripped my hair. The man stomped forward, entering my field of vision. Mr. Kishimoto scowled and gaped at me. "Did I hear that correctly, young man?"

"Check her footlocker," I mumbled and pressed my lips inwards to warm them. "I saw her put s-some stash of-of white powder in there, inside her black shoes. When I asked her about it, she became mad at me and started yelling nonsense to my face."

Mr. Kishimoto and Mr. Ueda exchanged a look. "How are you sure they're drugs? Aren't you a little too assuming? Ayuzawa is a very good and conscientious girl; she'll never touch drugs, more so deal them!"

I rubbed my eye until it hurt, just to divert my growing frustration to a bite of physical discomfort. "Go check it out. Call her down here. I'd voluntarily humiliate myself by running naked around Seika if I'm wrong."

Mr. Kishimoto clutched my face and turned my head so he could scrutinize me. "What's the matter with you, Mr. Sotaro? Do you have anything against the student president?"

"Seika recently underwent serious damage, sir!" I jerked my head from his grasp, grimacing. "The last thing we need is a student who will damage our school further! I'm reporting a violation, and you're treating me as though I'm the one risking Seika!"

Mr. Ueda coughed, silencing Mr. Kishimoto of his retort. "Go and fetch Ayuzawa from her class, Toya. Mr. Sotaro, you stay here while we validate your accusation. Does that sound more sensible than arguing?"

I scooped my bag from the floor and embraced it. The conscious part of me could not accept I was sixteen and still using objects such as this to shield me, to defend me. What would father think? Would he be ashamed of me if he saw me right now? "Y-yes, sir," I said.

Mr. Kishimoto dawdled, uncertain whether to continue accosting me or to obey orders. When Mr. Ueda lifted his cane and pointed it towards the door, he finally left.

The air inside the office stilled, and I was aware without the need to look, that those old, tired eyes of our principal was hovering over my pitiful visage, stripping my angry countenance until my agenda was exposed. The little guy at the back of my mind screamed for me to confess the truth, to admit the frame up, and to retreat while there was still a chance.

But…what about my father?

Going to the police with my case was not an option. My enemy needn't even blink to convince them I was an escapee of a mental institution seeking attention of the highest order. They had power. I was no one, and peasants like me did not fight back. We followed orders and hoped the other party stuck to their promise.

Mr. Ueda rounded his desk and sat on his chair, moaning in relief, and leaned his cane on the bookshelf behind him. "Mr. Sotaro, son," he began, "how are you sure that what Ayuzawa stuffed in her shoes are drugs? See now, I am not saying you are a liar, but as principal, I cannot deal with this grave matter without considering all the possibilities."

"What-what possibilities?"

He shrugged his bony shoulders. "First, how are you sure she was stuffing drugs? What if they're just mothballs or some powder women use? Or a gift!"

"A gift?" A guffawed. Heat advanced to my neck, and further to my cheeks. "They're drugs, okay? I'm sure! I'm just so damn sure they're drugs! What else can they be? Why won't you believe me and suspend her?"

"Do you bear a grudge against Ayuzawa?"

I ran my hand across my face. "C'mon, Mr. Ueda! Seika's reputation is at risk! Every student who cares about this school will report such a crime!"

"I heard a fireman accused you of attempting to molest her during the school fire."

Bouncing to my feet, I spun to hide my expression and gripped my hair hard. "That was settled, wasn't it? Misaki said so herself! I was forcing her to run out of the freakin' building! She wants to be the hero and save everyone but she can't! She's not a hero! She can't save the world! She can't-" I returned to my chair, crossed my arms, and shut my mouth.

Misaki could do nothing to save me from this.

A set of footsteps deluged my ears, making me shiver, and then the door swung open.

"Good morning, Mr. Ueda," came Misaki's sweet voice.

Suddenly, I fell numb.

This was it.

There was no turning back.

"Take a sit right over here, Ayuzawa." The principal motioned to the chair across from me. As she sat down, Mr. Kishimoto pulled out a stool and sat next to her.

Misaki tipped her head to catch my eyes. "Hey, Kanou, are you all right? Did something happen, sir?"

Silence pervaded for the next couple of moments, crafting tension between the people present, until Mr. Ueda said, "Ayuzawa, Mr. Sotaro here witnessed you stashing a bag of unknown substance inside your footlocker early this morning, and was deeply concerned of what it could be. Would you mind if I ask what it is before I tell my secretary to fetch your black shoes for us to scrutinize its contents ourselves?"

Misaki glanced at the faces in the room. "What substance? In my footlocker?" She hit my foot with her own to call my attention. "What are they talking about, Kanou?"

I slid my feet back, desperate to be as far from her as possible. "Admit it, Ayuzawa. There's no use lying here. You went mad when I asked you about it earlier."

"About what?"

"Maybe we should just take a look at it now, sir," interjected Mr. Kishimoto.

Misaki stood. "I don't understand. What are you talking about? What substance? I never saw you this morning, Kanou!"

"Mrs. Shimono!" called the principal.

A middle-aged woman poked her head through the door with a wry smile. Mr. Ueda ordered her to fetch Misaki's black shoes and inspect her footlocker while so doing. Although confused, she made no inquiries and disappeared behind her set of drawers in search for her keys.

"Sit down," he told Misaki.

I wouldn't look at her face, because I knew she would break my heart, but I did see her fists press against her knees in an attempt for self-control. Pulling myself up to a more proper sitting position, I scratched my cheek and remained holding my bag in front of me.

Mr. Kishimoto dared not speak also, which was a surprise, especially since Ayuzawa was practically his favourite student. Some of the men in my class joked that he was secretly a pervert and a maniac for high school girls, hence his biased treatment of the female population. Yukimura, however, confided in me that those rumors upset him, because the truth was, Mr. Kishimoto lost his wife and two daughters in a boating accident five years ago, after which he decided to teach in an exclusive school for boys. But one year later, Seika became co-ed, and although the presence of all the girls made him uncomfortable, he made every effort to defend them like he would his own daughters.

Remembering that eased my nerves a little. Somehow it made me less critical about the whole suspicion that God hated me. Maybe He didn't, because He sent a father-figure to stand beside Misaki at a time like this.

Mrs. Shimono returned soon enough, carrying in her hands Misaki's black shoes. Mr. Ueda gestured for her to place them in the middle of his desk. She did. All heads peered inside.

The principal, with his unsteady fingers, probed out of her shoes a pair of clear bags. Inside, the heap of white powder eroded to invade the remaining space available in the container, filling the corners like crystal dust. Had I not been briefed of what it was, I would have mistaken it for baby-powder, harmless in its nature.

Yet they weren't.

"They're drugs," I said.

Misaki jerked backwards. "D-drugs? Drugs?"

Mr. Kishimoto, with his deep scowl and pursed lips, advanced to the desk and opened the bag. He bent down and fanned the contents beneath his nose, sniffing. We watched him with intensity, anticipating the judgment that would settle the issue once and for all.

In those seconds before any expression permeated his face, I contemplated the identity of my enemy, and the odds that they wanted to destroy me and not Misaki; that they collaborated with me to frame her when, in truth, it was me they wanted to look bad.

What if they weren't who they claimed to be, and this was Omaro's way of extracting revenge on me?

_What if?_

Mr. Kishimoto wrinkled his nose, sealed the bag, and looked at me. He turned his head to Misaki, and he said, "Mr. Sotaro is telling the truth. This is Rohypnol, sir, and although it's sometimes prescribed as a sleeping pill and pre-anesthetic in European countries…this is notorious as a date-rape drug for its effects such as temporary amnesia and slowing down a person's psychomotor response – but _this_ amount!"

"This isn't mine!" shrieked Misaki, hyperventilating. "I-I-I don't know t-this drug! I-I don't know what it's doing in my locker-_in my shoes_!"

I told myself to scoff, and my body delivered convincingly. "I saw you, Ayuzawa. No use in lying."

"What the hell, Kanou?" She grabbed my collars and pulled me up. I stumbled to my feet, startled by her brutality, and was steadied by Mr. Kishimoto so I would not fall on her. He spread his arm across Misaki's shoulders to create a gap between us.

"Calm down!"

"What's happening, huh?" she challenged. Her amber eyes welled, and her cheeks burst with color, but she refused to cry. She shook me. "Tell me why you're doing this!"

Dropping my bag, I seized her wrists and squeezed them. "How else were you supposed to pay your father's debts?"

The struggle halted, and we stared at each other. I yanked her hands from my collars. "You were stuck in debt, weren't you? And your selfish father's debtors were putting your family in danger, so you had no choice but to deal drugs to earn money fast! Tell them! Tell them you had no choice because your father abandoned you to pay the price, and this was the only way you could think of to save yourself!"

"That's enough!" barked Mr. Kishimoto. He shoved me away from Misaki. Mrs. Shimono gasped.

Mr. Ueda stood, his hands flat on the table. "Is this true, Ayuzawa?"

She collapsed on the chair, speechless.

It was only a couple of days ago that we had argued about my meddling with her business, which paved an opportunity for honesty that revealed how similar we were in pain and in family. The measures she would go for her mother was the same measure I would go for my father, and although the guilt of this burden stirred nausea in my bloodstream, there was no virus that could obstruct my determination to end my part of the bargain.

No pity for her would liberate my father, and right now, that was my priority.

Not her.

"I paid a debt," she croaked. "I paid a debt, sir, b-but-but I never…" Her face burned a deep pink, and she slapped her hands over her eyes. "I never sold drugs! I would never-!"

"Ayuzawa," hissed Mr. Ueda. "The school will be handing you over to the nearest police station to discuss what to do with you and this…this bag of Rohypnol. I'll follow as soon as I finish my affairs here, but until then, you are suspended from Seika for the duration of this case…until we can prove whether you are telling the truth or not. Mr. Kishimoto will escort you, and Mrs. Shimono will contact your mother right now to inform her of where you'll be."

* * *

The principal excused me from my classes for the rest of the morning. He warned me to be available for questioning in case there arose a need to bring me forward to confess what I knew about Misaki's alibi. For now, he had said as he frowned at the photograph of Seika High on his desk, he would like to include as less of his students as the situation would allow.

Now I sat on the same bench where Mariya and I shared our lunch…the same place she fed me all her lies, and the same place I believed all of them. Consolation was the least I expected to find here, but what was the use of complaining? I belonged in this seat of mendacity, awaiting judgment from my enemy, and anticipating the cost of my dignity.

Tomorrow, my dad would be free.

Lunchtime arrived, finally. I had been dreading this moment, but it was here at last.

Students occupied the adjacent benches with bubbles of laughter and gossip itching to be spread. The athletes passed the football from one corner to the other, barely missing the heads of the taller individuals who were still searching for their place in the crowd.

I lifted my eyes, immediately spotting Takumi from across the field, advancing towards me in a pace I could not gauge the intent of.

Did he know?

Did Mr. Takiyumi inform him? What was he told? That I was the traitor among the bunch?

He stopped in front of me abruptly, his cellular phone inside his fist. "Tell me what happened, Kanou."

I fiddled with the strap of my bag. "What happened?"

"Don't act stupid, Kanou," he rumbled. "My grandfather is in Tokyo, and he had your father arrested for qualified theft. He wants something from me, and he came to you to get it. He bargained for your father's freedom, I know, but what I do not know is where Misaki has gone to, and you will answer me, Kanou."

"Mr. Walker gave me drugs to plant in her locker and accuse her of dealing it in order to pay her father's debts to Mr. Omaro."

His fingers tightened around his cellular phone. "…_Where is she_, Kanou?"

"I think she's being detained in the police station until Mr. Walker can decide the juvenile prison he wants to lock her in."

Amidst the babel of chatters and clangors, I heard his breathing accelerate. He breathed like a man running a marathon for his life, and to lose meant to die. "Drop out of Seika," he said. "Hide, else, I swear on my name, you and your father will be bargaining for your freedom for the rest of your lives."

Ä chuckle escaped me. "You're threatening me? Seriously, Takumi? Isn't this all your fault?" I laughed, louder, and stood so I was face to face with him. "Misaki and I were living normal lives until you danced into our poor circle with your secrets and family feuds, and when your granddaddy saw that you were having fun with the small people, they thought it would be even more fun if they could bend and twist us to our limit! You and your kind, Takumi - you're not human! You are money in the form of flesh, and deep inside, you're convinced you can buy damaged people like us to assure you of your souls! What? You want to punch me again? Go ahead! Because in the end, that's all you're good for – hurting people!"

Around us, the people had stopped to watch and listen. The utensils had been abandoned, the food forgotten, and the ball thrown to an empty field.

Takumi bore no feature of emotion. He opened his mouth, and his only response was 'run'.

I deserted Seika that afternoon, and several blocks past that abyss, I did run. I ran the streets with the same vigor and speed Saburo and I used to as children, with the taste of cold chocolate melting on our tongues, and with the tacit agreement that the only task left to accomplish was to get Mr. Ishiguro screaming in anger at us.

Without stopping to catch my breath, I opened his gate and dashed inside his house, shouting his name all the way.

The old man emerged from his kitchen with a shotgun poised in his hands. "Who is it? What do you want?"

"Mr. Ishiguro!"

"Kanou!"

I fell on my knees, holding my forehead. He set aside his gun and asked me, again and again, why I looked the way I did. His hand on my shoulder resembled dad's touch. There was no cruel persuasion in his grip, only gentle panic and understanding.

Hot tears spilled down my face, and in-between my booming sobs, I managed to tell him everything. By the time I ran out of things to say, we were already seated on the floor with half-empty glasses of water, and the room saturated in the orange light of the setting sun.

Mopping my face with the sleeves of my uniform, I announced my cluelessness in accordance to good and bad, and my inability to stand on my own.

Mr. Ishiguro gave me a sad smile, and he put his telephone on my lap. "Call your mother, Kanou," he said. "She's the last person you'd want assistance from, but she might just be who you need. The people you spoke of? They don't stop until you've got strength in your knees. The only way to end this is to fight back. Call your mother. If there's one person who can and will fight your battle with you, it's her."


End file.
